Angelic High
by Kaji Hikage
Summary: This is AU. The Angels are real people. Misaki has just entered high school. On her first day, she meets a Prince and a Wizard...
1. Episode One: The Prince and the Wizard

DISCLAIMER: don't own it sadly.  
  
It's a bit slow at first I suppose. But it will pick up. This is an AU where the Angels are real people going to high school with the rest of the characters. This will focus mainly on Misaki and Oujiro though Tamayo and Kotaro will be there too, as well as Hikaru and Wizard. Yes, a bit strange concept I suppose. But maybe you'll like it, ne?  
  
Please read and review. I NEED reviews to keep writing this. ~_~ Due of course to my somewhat "egomaniac" self's state of being. Gomen, but REVIEWS mean the world to me. Hai, hai, the story right? Ok!  
  
Here it is:  
  
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Angelic High: Part One: The Prince and the Wizard Meet the Angel  
  
Suzuhara Misaki glanced around in a fidgety manner; it was her first day at Angelic High. Though Misaki could be as brave as anyone, she would have been dead lying if she had said she felt that noble trait at that moment.  
  
Her uniform was crisp and clean, similar to the middle school one except where once there was an almost languid blue; there was now a conservative black. Despite its immaculate state, Misaki found reason to repeatedly look down at her skirt and smooth it absently with the flats of her hands.  
  
Other students walked around her, chatting amiably with one another; even those who looked as though they too were only first years were socializing avidly. This made Misaki feel somewhat uncomfortable at first but she soon brushed it off. The school looked nice and it was supposed to be some of the best years of her young life according to her Aunt.  
  
She would have to see.  
  
As an after thought following her silent observations on the school, she pulled out the folded map of the rather large school and tried to find her first hour class. Without really thinking, she began to walk as she tried to read the map simultaneously.  
  
"Umm... this way...and then this way...up these stairs...oof!" she ran into something and fell back. Being on the stairs, she attempted to regain her balance and when it seemed certain she would topple backwards, she felt herself being grabbed by the wrists.  
  
She dropped the map.  
  
Then she slowly opened her eyes, which had been shut in preparation for the impact.  
  
"A-ano!" Misaki stuttered, her voice lighter than normal with anxiety. "Gomen nasai!" Misaki moaned, bowing immediately in embarrassment and apology. Unfortunately this caused her to step back again and she once more nearly fell...and once more was caught by the stranger who chuckled a resonant laugh, light and friendly. She looked up.  
  
There were two boys there, her age...no perhaps a bit older.  
  
"Daijoubu?" asked the one who saved her, twice, smiling. Misaki felt her face flush.  
  
"H-hai, daijoubu!" she managed a nervous laughing reply, and then bowed again, careful not to step back, adding, "Arigato gozaimasu." Slowly she looked up from her bow and stood there, not certain of what to do.  
  
"You are new," her savior stated rather than asked while his companion stayed remotely silent beside and behind him.  
  
"H-hai!" she nodded, blushing again. Since when had stuttering been a dominant trait in her speaking?  
  
"Are you lost?" he asked, his blue eyes kindly smiling at her through the short black bangs, giving him an attractive and intriguing air. Misaki supposed that this was due also to his simple presence; he seemed to have an entrancing charisma.  
  
"Ano...a little," she frowned as she stooped to pick up the map.  
  
But it was gone.  
  
Her frown deepened into a worried one as she looked in a frantic haste for the only lifeline she had at this school.  
  
"Where are you headed?" asked her savior, still wearing that ever-present smile on his handsome face; it said that he knew things other people didn't and that was the way things would stay. Misaki didn't mind presently. Rummaging around in her bag, she successfully pulled out her schedule.  
  
"Um..." she paused. The boy beside her savior, lightly plucked the schedule from her small hands and glanced at it almost carelessly.  
  
"Moritomo, first hour class A. Hmm, that's near us. Would you like us to show you where?" he asked in a bland manner that contradicted the sparkle in his bright blue eyes, somewhat hidden by his bangs, which oddly enough also seemed to be a blue tint.  
  
"Iie, I don't want to trouble you. Arigato, demo I think I can find it..." her voice belied her true feelings of utter helplessness concerning directions and her savior chuckled that same resonant laugh from before. Misaki flushed slightly.  
  
"It's not trouble Suzuhara-san," he smiled, eyes echoing his amusement and friendliness. She was about to thank him when she wondered...  
  
"How do you know my name?" she wondered aloud.  
  
"It was on the schedule you showed us," explained her savior.  
  
"Ah, hai, demo, what may I call you two?" Misaki asked quietly, ringing her hands absently in front of her. Her savior stepped a bit to the side and pointed at his friend.  
  
"This is Wizard; I'm Mihara Oujiro," Oujiro introduced politely.  
  
"Arigato again Mihara-san, um...Wizard-san," she smiled brightly, tilting her small face upward towards them in a cheerful manner.  
  
"It's nothing," Wizard politely shrugged away the unnecessary thanks. As they walked, Misaki tagged along behind them at first; to her surprise though, Oujiro did not agree with this. Blithely taking her hand he pulled her forward softly to walk between him and Wizard.  
  
Whispers filtered like wind sprites in a full gale through the high school halls as the trio passed by. Groups of girls especially had vehement reactions to the sight of a little freshman walking with Wizard and Oujiro.  
  
"Who is she?"  
  
"Why are they walking with her?"  
  
"That's...that's Wizard-san! He's so..."  
  
"Yeah he is."  
  
"And Oujiro-san, our Prince..."  
  
"Hai, hai of course..."  
  
"DEMO, what is going on?"  
  
"Yeah, I don't know. But she can't be any older than a first year, a little freshman! I'm really lost myself."  
  
"Haha, you're always lost!"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Sigh. But those two are the best looking guys on campus you know."  
  
"Wait, what about Kotaro?"  
  
"Well, there's him, but he's with Tamayo-san." "Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, just Wizard and Oujiro then...sigh."  
  
"Not bad pickings though. That Wizard...must be magic the way he looks and sounds and..."  
  
"Hai, hai! Not bad at all. And they don't call Mihara Oujiro the Prince of Angelic high for nothing. Even girls from OTHER schools want him."  
  
There was an odd pause in the hot-fired gossip line.  
  
"BUT, who is THAT girl?"  
  
"Do you see that? Mihara is holding her hand!" This particular comment got notice of Oujiro who gracefully released her hand. Misaki didn't seem to mind; she was overwhelmed and flustered to what she believed to be her extent.  
  
"Here we are," Wizard pointed at a door with A-101 on it. Misaki took a slow inhale. Oujiro watched her discreetly through his shaded eyes that never quite expressed all that they should. Wizard also watched her but it was in an even more unidentifiable manner that only Oujiro noticed it because he was Wizard's best friend. And even then, he brushed it aside. Absently, Oujiro thought: Suzuhara Misaki, freshman to Angelic High. Welcome. Surprisingly, Wizard seemed to pick up the cue of silence to voice what Oujiro was thinking, more or less.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you Suzuhara-san," Wizard's voice conveyed sincerity even though his stoic appearance never broke to openly convey anything further. Misaki shook her head lightly as she snapped her attention from the door back to her...friends?  
  
"Iie, arigato and the pleasure is mine. I, I don't know what I can do to repay you...um..." Misaki racked her brain for some kind of extreme show of gratitude that she felt she ultimately owned these two boys for being so polite and helpful. She had not expected to be able to talk to anyone due to her timid nature, but they had helped her anyway. She bit her lower lip slightly, a worried expression coming over her as she tried to think of a proper way to thank them when...  
  
"Ano..." It was Oujiro. Misaki looked up, her blue eyes still somewhat puzzled but grateful.  
  
"Hai Mihara-san?" she prompted.  
  
"Uh-uh, first, just Oujiro is fine," he smiled and feeling Wizard's discreet glare from his peripheral vision, he added, "And Wizard can just be Wizard I'm certain. Formalities are fine, but," he paused and stepped a little closer to Misaki, who for her part was trying to unknot an odd sensation in her stomach and also trying to fight down that infernal blush she felt rise on her cheeks.  
  
"H-hai!?" her voice was a bit too high for her likings at that instant, but what could she do? "But, I want to be your friend, and friends are just fine without formalities, ne?" his blue eyes reflected her own for a second, sparkling at intervals of the uncountable seconds that passed with a magic that perhaps was part of the reason for his reputation, which Suzuhara Misaki had yet to discover.  
  
"Hai, I would like that!" Misaki's worry melted as quickly as it had come. If she became his friend, then surely she would have plenty of time to thank him...and Wizard. She turned to Wizard and bowed slightly. Wizard returned the gesture.  
  
"So then, welcome to Angelic," Wizard spoke and as Misaki was about to enter her homeroom, Oujiro called out to her again.  
  
"Misaki!" he called to her. She turned, having somewhat gotten a hold on that incessant blush on her cheeks...somewhat.  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"I'll think about your offer of gratitude. I know I'll think of something," he smiled and waved. Perhaps she would have felt somewhat unnerved by that statement otherwise, but the way he said it, the way Mihara Oujiro said it aloud and the way Wizard said it in silence, those ways just didn't seem so bad.  
  
Breathing in softly as she turned away from them, she opened the door to her homeroom, A-101, and walked in.  
  
Welcome Misaki...the words rang in her mind. Her smile as genuine as the sunshine outside, she felt her heart lift a bit. High school had just lost a great deal of its fear factor and transformed itself into an adventure she thought perhaps, she might be ready for.  
  
Misaki smiled again and found a seat.  
  
The day had only just begun.  
  
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PLEASE REVIEW! ONEGAI!  
  
Thanks. ^_~ And for all of you reading my other fics, NO I have not forgotten them. They're just coming along slowly painfully and even more slowly because of writer's block. So I am writing some Angelic Layer for now, hoping it will inspire me for the next chapters of my other pieces. ^_^  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	2. Episode Two: MISAKICHIIII

DISCLAIMER: Don't own the series... ...Sigh...I wish I owned Oujiro and Wizard...blast it.  
Angelic High Part Two: MISAKICHIIII/Meet Tamayo and Kotaro  
  
Pulling out her things, Misaki hummed softly to herself, arranging her materials in her carefree manner that was so natural to her. When a hand rapped on her desk lightly, she looked up.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu," said a tall boy, her age, before her. He had dark hair and eyes that contradicted his light expression of friendliness.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu," she smiled back and inclined her head from her lower position in her desk.  
  
"I'm Kobayashi Kotaro," he said, bowing slightly in traditional Japanese fashion. She stood to reciprocate.  
  
"I'm Misaki, Suzuhara Misaki!" and they stood there for a moment.  
  
"Are you new to the area? I have not seen you in lower school or middle before..." he ventured.  
  
"Hai, I'm from north of Tokyo. I just came here to live with my Aunt Shouko for the first time a week ago."  
  
"Ah, I can show you around if..." he was cut off when:  
  
"KOTARO-CHANNNNNNNNN!" A blonde whirlwind sped into him, knocking him flat, causing Misaki to jump down to check on his well-being. Then she looked up at the girl who was wearing a rather satisfied grin on her impish face.  
  
"Naa!" Misaki yelped in surprise. The blonde girl blinked, noticing Misaki for the first time perhaps, and examined her closely, peering into her eyes rather near.  
  
"Eh...Kotaro-chan, who's this?" the blonde asked, questioning the prostate body of Kotaro.  
  
"M-M-Misaki!" she supplied, as Kotaro did not seem up to answering for her. After pondering a moment, an interesting glint in her uniquely colored eyes, the blonde girl gave a short bow.  
  
"Ah, nice to meet you Misaki...hmm...that's not sounding right to me, ne Kotaro-chan?" she chortled and added as if conveying a secret to Misaki,  
  
"You see, I call Kotaro, Kotaro-chan because -chan is good enough for him. Demo...you are..." she paused and then pumped the air with her fist triumphantly.  
  
"Ah! I've got it! You are MISAKICHIIII!" And she pointed at Misaki who flushed several shades of pink unseen in years on the human face as all eyes turned to her.  
  
"N-n-naa?" she faltered.  
  
"Ohayo! And, me, hehe, I'm Tamayo-chan," she grinned again, propping Kotaro back into his seat as she took the seat behind him, diagonal from Misaki. Then the teacher walked in and Misaki began her first class in High School, managing to stir some consciousness from Kotaro before he was caught. Tamayo could not wipe the grin off her face throughout it all.  
  
At lunch, Misaki walked alone to her locker quickly, leaving a gleeful Tamayo alone with a comically submissive and good-natured Kotaro [chan.] And Tamayo waved as she ran off, yelling: "JA NEEEE MISAKICHIIIIII!" in her ever-cheerful manner.  
  
Misaki paused and smiled self-consciously at the way her new friend called her name so very, very loudly, always drawing unwanted attention to her. She sighed. It couldn't be helped, and she liked how friendly Tamayo and Kotaro were being to her, even just meeting her. Misaki smiled as she walked, rather lightly it might be noted for someone weighed down with as much academic material as she was. Her bag was not even big enough to hold all of her books, so she carried several in her small arms, as well as a few folders.  
  
As she neared her locker though, being Misaki, she managed to somehow trip and she sprawled on the ground, her books and folders flying in every direction, some falling on top of her.  
  
"Why?" she asked herself softly as she scrambled to pick up her things, blushing for what she thought must be the fiftieth time that day, feeling many staring eyes upon her petite form as she wrestled to get all her belongings back into her grasp. Eventually she had most of them in her arms, but found to her dismay that there was one other folder on the ground, her composition. In vain, she attempted to kneel down to reach it as well when a warm hand laid itself upon hers. She looked up.  
  
"Wi-Wizard-san!" she gulped. This was incredibly embarrassing. He shook his head at her, almost amused, except his expression never changed; it was more of a feeling.  
  
"We meet again Suzuhara," he paused and glanced at the heading. This pause seemed so long that Misaki wasn't certain whether to be embarrassed in advance or pray he didn't find her first topic chosen, juvenile.  
  
"A-ano...?" she ventured and Wizard snapped back to attention, graceful as always, carefully placing her folder on top of her precarious pile of books and such.  
  
"You chose to write on family? That is an ambiguous topic, ne?" he questioned as she made the last few feet to her locker successfully. She faced him, peering at him over the top of her pile of things.  
  
"H-hai, demo, it's important, family, ne? I mean..." she paused and let that part trail off. Wizard did not convey any emotion, least of all the supernaturally inclined observation skills he had but he had seen a flash of sadness flitter through this bright child's eyes and he wondered at that. Then he pushed it away to the back of his mind and glanced down slightly at Misaki, his expression not really changing, but his eyes softening slightly.  
  
"Hai, it's important for everyone," and he stared at her and then at her locker pointedly, "May I help you by the way Suzuhara?" he almost sounded amused again.  
  
"Arigato," she smiled sheepishly and told him the combination without batting an eye. That she was so trusting was intriguing to Wizard; not that he would ever do anything untoward with the information, but it wasn't often to find such immediate trust in anyone. He opened it and then without asking, relieved Misaki of some of the books as she placed them all in an orderly fashion into it.  
  
"I still haven't thanked you for before, and now I suppose I must thank you again," Misaki smiled widely up at Wizard who shook his head.  
  
"It's not necessary," he replied.  
  
"Iie, demo, I want to!" she cocked her head to one side, as if trying to comprehend something she was not allowing herself to ask about.  
  
"Ah, well ja ne Suzuhara," Wizard waved ever so slightly and began to walk away with that unintended grace of his, silent and fluid.  
  
"Iie! Matte Wizard-san!" she called to him, holding out her hand to stop him.  
  
"Hai?" he asked, turning his head slightly to look at her over his shoulder, a few strands of unruly hair falling as always, into his bright eyes.  
  
"Just Misaki is fine, like Oujiro said, no need for formalities between friends, ne?" she asked, feeling like she was taking a leap of faith. It was impossible to figure out if he would like to be her friend, behind that stoic face of his, beautiful but lacking normal expressions.  
  
"Hai," he shrugged kindly and waved once more, "Ja ne Misaki."  
  
Misaki smiled; another friend was surely made. Turning back to her locker, she hummed a soft tune, cheery to suit her disposition, giving one last glance at the composition folder before shutting the locker door and clicking the lock back into place.  
Wizard strode down the hall, confident but not egocentric, simply flawless according to his peers. He was one of the main attractions for the ladies of Angelic High due to his aloof and mysterious way, as well as his attractive looks. But he was somewhat unattainable; thus not only his name being Wizard, but his nickname among the students being The Wizard, the enchanter of women as it was joked about, who didn't really want them.  
  
He spotted Oujiro ahead, leaning casually against a wall, eyes seemingly closed. But Wizard knew better. Oujiro was as alert as he was, maybe more so.  
  
Oujiro was the other attraction, given the nickname, Prince of Angelic High, courteous, kind, handsome, and suave, he was everything Wizard minus the cold exterior. He had a mysterious air without being icy as Wizard tended to appear.  
  
"Wizard," Oujiro's lips were curved in that soft all-knowing smile of his as he spoke his best friend's name, eyes still languidly closed, brushed beneath his ebony bangs.  
  
"Oujiro," Wizard nodded and took the space next to the Prince, leaning on the wall in similar style. They were picturesque in their subtle comfort of smooth stillness, neither missing the fact that many stares were thrown their way, most from females, though some undoubtedly from the males too.  
  
"My sixth sense tells me you are thinking of something," Oujiro opened his lively beautiful blue eyes and threw his sight sideways upon Wizard who turned to face him comfortable, shoulder still leaning on the wall.  
  
"Hai," he answered simply.  
  
"Hm, well if you aren't going to tell me, I suppose I can wait a while longer, though I think I know what it...no, who it is you're thinking of," he offered a short chuckle, deep and resonant.  
  
"Feh," was the curt reply but it was mere confirmation of Oujiro's implication. In silence, the two walked towards the cafeteria line. As they entered the line, someone bumped into Oujiro and he looked down, surprised.  
  
"Oh, gomen!" a model-like girl feigned innocence, apologizing while batting her long blonde eyelashes at him, smiling a little too coyly for Oujiro's taste; the girl had of course, timed this perfectly to "run into" Mihara Oujiro, the Prince, on purpose. It happened all the time and best time was lunch, when it was normal because of all the people. The girl was still there, smiling up at him, her long strawberry blonde hair held in a long braid, bright green eyes staring out of a fair toned face. And the Prince had no interest. Still, he was as gentlemanly as ever...  
  
"Ahem, it's nothing..." what was that girl's name...oh right. "Mizawa-san, it's fine," he smiled kindly as always and turned before she could catch him again somehow, moving in a discreetly quickened pace towards where Wizard had moved with the line, near the front.  
  
"That's always fun to watch," Wizard remarked, clearly entertained by the sparkle in his eyes that was clear only to the truly observant, or the truly familiar in the case of Oujiro.  
  
"Hai, for you maybe," Oujiro groaned as he took his tray absently and they exited the line. "I wish they wouldn't do that," he added as he and Wizard looked around.  
  
"I feel like eating outside today," Wizard said. So they did. And as they exited the doors, they both noticed immediately, though neither would ever admit it, Suzuhara Misaki. She was sitting alone beneath a large Sakura tree, eating her lunch, staring up into the branches of the still blooming tree. Wizard was the first to stop looking and glanced over at Oujiro who once caught, had the grace to blush slightly. Wizard raised an inquiring eyebrow. Oujiro waved it off. And, ignoring the even more inquiring look he was getting from Wizard, who nonetheless was happy with his friend's actions, Oujiro moved towards the unknowing Misakichi [as Tamayo would so lovingly call her.]  
  
"Misaki," Oujiro smiled down at her. Misaki for her part was startled and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice.  
  
And she nearly did it again when she saw him and Wizard standing before her, holding their lunch trays, if only somewhat expectantly.  
  
"K-konnichi-wa minna!" she managed a smile. "A-ano, would you like to eat lunch here with me?" She looked down. "Demo, if you don't want to, that's okay too, I know you are probably busy," she trailed off, not certain what to do.  
  
"Hai, I was going to ask if we could. Arigato Misaki," Oujiro confirmed, still smiling and Misaki lowered her head quickly to hide the uncontrollable blush she felt rise warmly on her cheeks. She focused on her bento...which was somewhat empty at this point. There were a few minutes of silence before Wizard lost interest in his lunch and took more of interest in the girl across from him and Oujiro. Her head was still cast down, deliberately if he wasn't mistaken and he rarely was. She seemed to be enthralled with her empty bento.  
  
"Daijoubu Misaki?" he asked, surprising himself and even Oujiro who for once, showed his surprise. Wizard was polite but rarely did he inquire about other people's well being...except for Oujiro of course. It was Oujiro's turn to raise an eyebrow and Wizard thanked the stars that he had worked for so long to attain his unbreakable wall of expressionless and emotionless being. It saved him from the blush he would have had under any normal person's circumstance...which would have only led to further controversy between him and Oujiro later anyway.  
  
Misaki's head shot up rather quickly as she nodded.  
  
"H-hai! Daijoubu. Gomen," she apologized with a sincerity that Mizawa had lacked earlier, a pure and... oddly endearing sincerity. Wizard absently thought that must come from the slight naivety and innocence that seemed to resonate from this girl, which he also supposed made her so interesting. Oujiro even less consciously acknowledged this as well, seeing it more as simply Misaki than anything else. Simply Misaki.  
  
"Daijoubu. Kirei ne?" Oujiro attempted to brush her obvious unease away by pointing at the softly falling Sakura petals around them. They were in fact, every beautiful indeed.  
  
"Kirei..."breathed Misaki lightly, lifting her tiny palm thoughtlessly up into the air to catch one but it seemed none came close enough to her, for she could not reach high enough. Before any petals would glide low enough for her reach, a sudden breeze would sweep them away. Misaki was a bit crestfallen at this slight reminder of her tiny state but still found pleasure in their indisputable beauty, smiling in her carefree manner people who knew her well loved so dearly. Sighing, she was about to let her empty hand fall when a soft counter breath blew an unsuspecting petal into her palm. It was softer than any wind or breeze...she looked to the side. Wizard nodded, and Misaki supposed that was his substitute for a smile. He had discreetly blown a petal into her hand. Her smile brightened tenfold and Oujiro laughed aloud. At this she wondered and stared peculiarly at Oujiro who merely shook his head, obviously entertained by some secret joke he knew only.  
  
"Arigato Wizard!" she laughed as she cradled the small pink petal lovingly in her hands. Such simple beauty was to be praised in her meek opinion, small but amazing, like she hope to be someday.  
  
"Ne, it's time to head back minna," Oujiro said, still wearing a secretive smile, tickling Misaki's tenacious curiosity that she fought down with a determined will. Sure enough, most students were re-entering the school from lunch hour. It was nearly time to return to class.  
  
"Hai!" Misaki bundled up her empty bento and hopped lithely up. Surely she was no athlete, but her petite form made it easy for her to jump and such when necessary, or when compelled by a sudden burst of joy, which happened to her a lot lately, she noted amusedly. Thoughtfully, she turned to Oujiro and Wizard, looking up at them both, still wondering why two sophomores would bother with her, but shrugging it off mentally. She was happy to be their friends; they gave her a funny feeling, like butterflies in her stomach, but she figured this was a new kind of happiness. In a way, she was right.  
  
"Arigato Misaki," Wizard said, pausing and waiting for Oujiro to follow suit. Oujiro had a glint in his eyes that Wizard noticed, one that belied his somewhat mischievous mode.  
  
"Ano, Misaki-chan?" Oujiro had placed on his face a contemplative and tentative look, a pondering look even.  
  
"Hai Oujiro?" she prompted, unaware of the Oujiro mischief at hand.  
  
"I think I've thought of what to ask you for, you know, for showing you to your class this morning. Of course, this lunch sitting with you was enough, demo, if you wouldn't mind..." he let his sentence hang in air for a moment. Misaki pounced unknowingly on the offer.  
  
"Hai! Anything Oujiro-san, I have been thinking all morning of how to repay you and Wizard-san and I still haven't gotten any good ideas," she added somewhat ashamedly, even when there was no real reason for her to be ashamed. That was just Misaki. Wizard smiled mentally at how she added the forma "san" to the ends of their names in her excitement. Oujiro too noticed this but did not comment, only letting a slow smile creep across his face, not his usual one [that it might be noted still sent girls falling all over him] but a satisfied one, like that of a cat winning at a game with a mouse.  
  
"Anything?" he asked once more, just so she was certain, though he knew she would never really think to what he was thinking to know.  
  
"H-hai, anything, anything I can do...though I can't do a lot of things..." and this set Misaki to worrying again and Wizard smiling mentally again and Oujiro to continue his satisfied smile as well.  
  
"Well then, Misaki-chan," he bent to a knee and took her hand...  
  
And placed a soft kiss on it, innocent and gentlemanly, yet a big show for the Prince of Angelic High. And as one might expect in a high school setting anywhere, there were viewers who began whispering hoarsely to each other. These were all blocked out though from the three.  
  
"N-na!?" she blushed fiercely. That was not what she had expected; still, it sent tingles of an unfamiliar yet pleasant sort straight into her heart.  
Wizard was also stunned. And for a split second, he showed it, and Oujiro saw that split second, and grinned. Misaki was mumbling to herself, blushing and trying to make a single cohesive sentence...and not prevailing.  
  
"Ah, Misaki-chan, was that bad of me?" Oujiro sounded genuinely worried for a moment but his face cleared when she smiled at him.  
  
"Iie, demo, I don't think that's really a proper gratitude from me...I should do something for you, demo..." she was cut off by Oujiro shaking his head.  
  
"Iie Misaki. That is plenty. Arigato again," he added as he and Wizard began to walk away, Misaki still standing rooted to her spot beneath the falling Sakura blossoms.  
  
So that was her first lunch at high school.  
  
Not bad.  
  
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Hope you liked this chapter minna. It's slow yes, but more Kotaro and Tamayo and soon hopefully Hikaru, you know, you know. [I LOVE Hikaru. Sugoi, ne?]  
  
Thank you for reading thus far! Keep reading and REVIEWING and I'll keep updating. TELL YOUR FRIENDS who like Angelic Layer Fics about this one, especially Oujiro x Misaki fans. I really want to get people into this story and REVIEWING. There are so few Misaki and Oujiro fics. I guess that if people read mine, maybe they'll writer their own too. ^_~  
  
REVIEW ONEGAIIIII! [yes I'm needy, I know, hehehe. Gomen.]  
  
Arigato minna!  
  
-Kaji Hikage  
  
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	3. Episode Three: Nice to Know You

DISCLAIMER: Don't own it...but I love it. [CLAMP =genius]  
  
Angelic High: Episode Three: Nice to Know You  
  
The two most wanted males in Angelic strolled down the hall, having a soft conversation no one could hear but them. And if Wizard's walk was a little less smooth than usual due to something he could not name, no one noticed but he and Oujiro. And if Oujiro's eyes were more distant than normal, as though her were thinking of something or someone else than that which, was at hand, no one noticed but those same two. And so it went:  
  
"What were you thinking?" Wizard questioned Oujiro with more emotion in his voice than he preferred.  
  
"Nani? What are you talking about Wizard?" Oujiro asked as they walked back to class from lunch.  
  
"The whole gratitude bit, that was a bit much don't you think?" Wizard prodded slightly. He couldn't understand the internal complications going on inside himself, much less explain them to Oujiro, so he simply questioned.  
  
"Iie. I wanted to..." Oujiro smiled at his friend.  
  
"Hai, demo..." Wizard stopped short as Oujiro's smile suddenly became somewhat predatory.  
  
"Ah, matte Wizard. I think you might be a little jealous hm?" Oujiro teased. This was too good to pass up. It was the first clear indication of Wizard liking anyone...at all, except of course, Oujiro.  
  
"N-nani? Don't be daft," Wizard scoffed airily but Oujiro merely chuckled at him.  
  
"Hai, hai. Whatever you say," Oujiro placated Wizard as they walked in turbulent silence to their next class.  
Mizawa Rei stared at Misaki as the bright young girl opened her locker and attempted to withdraw the accounted for things, nearly having the tower of leaning books fall on her. Mizawa snickered at the freshman. Then she paused in her bout of derision to examine her "enemy." Misaki, she noted, was short but very slender, petite and, Mizawa grudgingly supposed, cute. And that was okay she also supposed, if you went for that sort of thing.  
  
In contrast, Mizawa Rei was thin, tall and super-model elitist material overall. Her skin was a deep pigment compared to Misaki's fair complexion and her eyes were a bright sharp green compared to Misaki's soft blues. Plus, Misaki had a short haircut whereas Rei's was long. In Rei's mind, there was no reason for her to be undesirable to any of the boys of the school. And that was true for the most part. The majority of the male population at Angelic High would have thought themselves in heaven if she allowed them to even walk near her.  
  
But that was not so with her main objective:  
  
Mihara Oujiro, Prince of the school.  
  
She wanted him.  
  
A while back she had considered Wizard, but found him altogether unapproachable. That icy exterior of his was enough to fend off even her tenacious ways. But Mihara, he was another story. Openly kind and courteous, debonair and intelligent, and incredibly attractive he was everything she wanted in a man, and to her, anything she wanted, she deserved.  
  
And she wanted the best.  
  
And as she was in the same grade as Oujiro, she had been trying since middle school to hook him. Yet all her attempts always backfired. She could not understand why but she kept trying, secretly planning out her next chance to run into Oujiro. It was difficult, for he had a veritable fan club consisting of most of the girls at Angelic, but she managed. And aside from that, most girls, even the ones that liked him, stayed away usually; they knew he was Rei's territory and no one wanted to compete with her.  
  
Rei went back to studying Misaki.  
  
The girl had just managed to close her locker but couldn't seem to get the lock shut with her arms full as they were. Mizawa pounced.  
  
"Ano, do you need any help?" Rei asked kindly, green eyes betraying none of the double motive she had.  
  
"Hai, arigato gozaimasu," Misaki smiled gratefully, attempting a shallow bow while weighed down with all her things. Rei helped steady her.  
  
"Iie, don't do that. You'll drop everything," Rei shook her head.  
  
"Ah...h-hai!" Misaki nodded.  
  
"I'm Mizawa Rei," the green eyed one introduced herself.  
  
"Nice to meet you Mizawa-san! I'm Suzuhara Misaki!" Misaki replied.  
  
"Just Rei-san or Rei is fine," Rei corrected cordially.  
  
"Hai, then Misaki is just fine for me," Misaki also corrected and then the bell rang loud and sound.  
  
"I have to go, demo, arigato again! I'll think of some way to repay you!" Misaki called over her shoulder as she tried to hurry her leaden pace to her next class. Rei smiled a slow, scheming smile.  
  
"Hai, I'm sure you will," Rei whispered as she herself turned to go to class.  
  
Things were working according to plan thus far.  
  
Rei's smile widened. She did so love it when her plans went well.  
The last bell rang. School was dismissed for the day.  
  
Misaki breathed a prayer.  
  
She was surprised she had survived her first serious day at high school. As she walked out the front of the school, she lifted her face to the sunshine. It was a warm comfort.  
  
"Matte Suzuhara-san!" She turned to see Kotaro running toward her. She frowned slightly. Had she told him yet to call her simply Misaki? She supposed not.  
  
"Konnichi-wa Kotaro-kun! Ano, could you just call me Misaki, onegai?" Misaki implored and Kotaro mustered a nod and a smile.  
  
"Daijoubu? How was your first day here?" he asked kindly.  
  
"Very well, arigato. So many people were nice to me today; I feel very special," Misaki smiled brightly.  
  
"Well you are!" Kotaro said without thinking and then added quickly, "I mean, we are all special, ne?" he breathed a sigh of relief when Misaki didn't seem too notice his slip. we all are," Misaki confirmed.  
  
"MISAKICHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Tamayo came pounding down the front courtyard; Kotaro from practice, ducked, but didn't count on Tamayo's feet. As such, she swept them out from under him and he fell without much warning, onto his back. Tamayo blinked as if first noticing Kotaro and leaned down, curiously. "Ano, Kotaro-chan, what are you doing on the ground?"  
  
"Nani!? What kind of girlfriend attacks her boyfriend as much as you do, eh?" he groaned. Tamayo paused as though thinking and then responded by latching onto Kotaro's arm softly and pecking him on the cheek.  
  
"The kind that loves him!" And Kotaro threw up his hands in submission.  
  
"Hai, I guess you're right. Ne, Misaki-chan?" he grinned up at her from the ground. Misaki offered her hand to help him up.  
  
"I guess so, demo, I don't know a lot about love," she paused and as soon as she saw the worried eyes of Kotaro and Tamayo she waved her hands in negative form.  
  
"Iie! It's not like that. I...I am l-loved...at home..." she paused again, spacing out for a moment. In that moment her heart winced at an emptiness she would not acknowledge but she covered it up as well as she could. She had unknowingly become a master actress for covering up her inner anxiety when she was very young...but that was long ago.  
  
"Ano, what I meant was I don't know about romantic love," Misaki finished.  
  
"Ah, hai! Don't worry Misakichi! Everyone will love you when they meet you! I know," winked Tamayo, grinning.  
  
"N-nani?" Misaki faltered.  
  
"Hai, you're nice and it doesn't hurt that you're cute either!" Kotaro backed up Tamayo's statement without blushing this time and Tamayo then smacked him lightly, remarking on how it was uncouth of him to be so forward, especially with another girl, even if he was right.  
  
"Iie, demo, arigato," Misaki waved her hands in a flustered manner. She couldn't remember the last time she was told she was cute...by anyone other than her family of course.  
  
"AIYAAAA! KOTARO-CHANNNNNN! Gomen Misakichi! We have to run for our karate lessons! Ja neeeee!" Tamayo sped out a farewell as she also sped down the rode, dragging an apologetic looking Kotaro-chan with her. Misaki sighed. They definitely were a pair.  
  
The sky was a vivid blue, like the ocean almost on a very sunny day. Misaki wondered if there was ever a time when one could mix up the sky with the sea and try and walk on water or air not knowing. It was a very fanciful thought; she knew. But she was very much a dreamer. She read manga quite a bit and always loved how the heroines though small, could win over all tribulations.  
  
It was a testament to the small people of the world for Misaki. There were times when she wished she could be one of the characters, a magical knight sent to save a fragmenting world, or a magic sorceress with guardians and magic, or an angel who found love on earth. They seemed so fantastic and made Misaki often feel insignificant, but she loved the stories. Each had its own perspective, much like people.  
  
Misaki's feet padded softly against the ground beneath her as she made her way home. She hummed a soft tune to herself, one she knew by heart, but could never find anywhere on any CDs. She always wondered where it came from. It was sweet and lilting, but for some reason also Misaki could not fathom, when she sang or hummed it, it had a sad undertone. There was a soft breeze transcending the air as her hum turned into the song:  
  
"Someday I'll find you  
  
Alone in this space  
  
Of emptiness where I've waited  
  
For you to embrace  
The love I flew over  
  
While passing through my sky  
  
In ever rhythmic footfalls  
  
Asking the heart why  
Holding it in myself  
  
To give to you someday  
  
When all tears are gone  
  
With you in the sun, after the rain..."  
  
Misaki let the short lines trail off into the previous silence and was startled to hear clapping. She jumped in surprise and turned to face none other than Oujiro. She flushed. How many times would she embarrass herself before the day was out? She wasn't certain she really wanted to know.  
  
"Sugoi Misaki-chan, that was beautiful," was all he said though and Misaki was stunned.  
  
"A-ano?" she wanted to clarify this; perhaps her hearing was going too.  
  
"I said beautiful Misaki-chan," he smiled.  
  
"Aiya...um, ano, where is Wizard?" she asked, attempting to make him divert his attention which seemed to be so scrutinizing on her.  
  
"He has some things to think about," Oujiro replied amiably and then offered, "Are you going home? May I walk you?"  
  
"Hai, if you like," she nodded shyly and began to walk again. The silence was not uncomfortable and it was broken at intervals by their footsteps, tap, tap, tap...  
  
"Say, this is the way Wizard's home is too," smiled Oujiro conversationally.  
  
"H-honto ni?" she asked, surprised.  
  
"Hai, not far from you I suppose," Oujiro commented.  
  
"H-hai. Here," she pointed as they came to her Aunt's house.  
  
"Ah, ja ne then Misaki-chan," Oujiro bowed and Misaki did the same.  
  
"Ja ne Oujiro-san!" she waved. She just couldn't merely call him Oujiro; it was too impolite and Misaki felt that Oujiro commanded a kind of silent respect that he deserved. Oujiro let it slip. Misaki turned and entered her house, the door and gate clicking shut gently behind her.  
  
"Demo...someday you will just call me Oujiro, ne Misaki-chan?" he asked the air and smiled, standing there a moment longer before walking leisurely away, towards his house, which was also nearby, though further away than Wizard's.  
  
Suzuhara Misaki, thought Oujiro, I am glad to know you.  
  
--------------------------------------------------- Review onegai, and if anyone knows of any other Misaki and Oujiro fics, let me know...I am feeling sadly deprived as I have read all of them on ff.net already...so few...  
  
Next episode: What is Mizawa Rei planning? What goes on with Wizard, Oujiro and the lovable Misaki? And what's this: Misaki, a living shoujo heroine?! Next episode comes soon hopefully as soon as I find some working incentive. ~_~  
  
Arigato for REVIEWING, those who have, please keep doing so! It keeps the story going.  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	4. Episode Four: Enter HIKARU

DISCLAIMER: You know.  
  
READ THE NOTES BEFORE and AFTER THE EPISODES WHEN I POST THEM PLEASE! They inform you of stuff that you might want to know about the fic and other things as well as what you might get to see in the next episode depending on the number/ content of the reviews! ^_~ Arigato gozaimasu!  
  
Anyone with Misaki x Oujiro fics please e-mail me at:  
  
Kajihikage@adelphia.net  
  
I am building a site of varied fanfiction, Misaki and Oujiro included and I am searching like mad. If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll give you the URL for you to see if you like the idea. Sou da ne...  
  
Hai, hai, getting on with the important part...gomen:  
  
Angelic High: Episode Four: Enter HIKARU  
  
"I'm leaving Shouko-san!" Misaki called as she pelted down the stairs and out of the house, grabbing her bento and backpack on her way, throwing a hasty "arigato" over her shoulder as she shut the door. Apparently she had slept through her alarm clock; it was very un-Misaki like but she had had the worst time getting to sleep that past night. Yet, if she hurried, she might make it in time.  
  
With lightning fast strides surprising for her short but slender legs, she ran through the school gates, up the front steps and towards homeroom. As a last minute thought she went even faster, stopping to put her bento in her locker and somehow stuffing everything she needed into her bag, unlike yesterday when she carried half her things. As it was, she was greatly overbalanced by the weight but managed to doggedly head back towards homeroom.  
  
Imagine her startled expression when she ran into someone and went sprawling. She winced; her ankle felt somewhat painful.  
  
"Gomen," she said quickly, looking up at..."Wizard-san!" she yelped.  
  
"Hai, daijoubu Misaki?" he asked, leaning down to help her up. She looked at his proffered hand he wondered if she knew how odd it was for him to be this courteous. He also wondered why he was being this way, his higher self softly teasing him, soft enough for him to ignore it.  
  
"Daijoubu desu!" she nodded, taking his hand slowly, standing purposely on her left foot, taking the pressure of her right one discreetly. There was no reason to worry Wizard-san.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked, genuinely worried; he had seen her wince when she fell.  
  
"Hai! Demo, I'm sure you have to go to class now, ne Wizard-san?" she replied cheerily.  
  
"Hai, as long as you're certain you are alright," was his response.  
  
"Of course! Go Wizard-san before I make you late. Arigato gozaimasu," she added, waving as he turned the corner to the upper floors. Then she exhaled briefly and winced again. There was a throbbing in her right ankle for sure but she had to get to class...so she hobbled or limped to class, smiling and offering an apology to Moritomo as she went to her seat. Tamayo and Kotaro eyed her in question but to her relief, they let it slide. They would ask later why Misakichi was late that morning.  
Wizard apologized tonelessly to the teacher for being late, who was so stunned at his tardiness she could only nod and wave him to his seat wordlessly. Wizard was never late. Never. His peers also stared, the only one amongst them seeming to have a clue being Mihara Oujiro. He for his part, mouthed the words silently: We'll talk later.  
  
It was a statement, a fact, more than a request. Wizard only shortly inclined his head as he slid into his desk smoothly without a sound. Certainly they could talk.  
  
Later.  
"Nani? You slept though your alarm Misakichi?" Tamayo empathized with her deeply.  
  
"Hai," Misaki sighed. They were at lunch, her, Tamayo and Kotaro-chan sitting together beneath that same Sakura tree she sat under the day before with a Prince and a Wizard. Misaki had offered her bento to Tamayo, lying that she had eaten a large breakfast. In reality, she was fighting off swirls in her head of dizziness caused by the increasing pain in her ankle, which she was deftly hiding from them. She had not eaten anything yet that day but felt she could not eat at present in any case. Giving herself a mental slap, she refrained from softly rubbing the injury. That would only draw attention.  
  
"Suzuhara," Kotaro smiled, "How do you like it so far?"  
  
"Ano, it's very nice; I still feel the same as before. Everyone has been extremely nice to me," she reaffirmed.  
  
"Hai, that's good," Kotaro nodded before being slammed into a chokehold, courtesy of the undefeated Tamayo-chan.  
  
"KOTAROOOO-CHANNNN! What's this? Are you making untoward passes at Misakichiiiii?" she teased, knowing full well he hadn't. She merely teased him because she could get under his skin, and was not disappointed as he turned several shades of embarrassed rosy red in blushes.  
  
"I-Iie Tamayo-chan!" he frowned, gasping for air. Misaki laughed nervously. Apparently Kotaro had built up a fair resistance over the years, but it was definitely something she would have to get used to. Kotaro went momentarily limp and Tamayo dropped him. In a few seconds he dragged himself to an upright position and Tamayo grinned as if to say, "told you so" and Misaki laughed again. Definitely take some getting used to...  
  
"Ano, I should get to my locker minna," Misaki excused herself and made a hasty exit while Tamayo teased Kotaro again, limping hurriedly away, hoping they didn't notice; they didn't.  
  
As she approached her locker she sighed in relief. She could limp fully now without worrying about...well, worrying anyone else.  
  
"Misaki?" She would have jumped if her ankle were not hurt as she turned to face Prince Mihara Oujiro himself, that wayward smile plastered languidly over his ever-unflappable and handsome features.  
  
"Na! Oujiro-san!" she gulped.  
  
"Daijoubu? Why are you limping?" he asked, genuine concern in his friendly voice; they were very close to each other and she felt like she might collapse, and not from her ankle either.  
  
"A-ano, it's nothing," she smiled casually, shrugging it off, making a show of getting the last three feet to her locker without trouble, as though normal. And it would have fooled anyone but her present audience most likely. But present audience was Mihara Oujiro and he missed little or nothing that went on.  
  
"Awful habit of yours Misaki-chan," he chuckled kindly, "And you're not very good at it," he baited her.  
  
"N-nani?" she faltered.  
  
"Lying Misaki-chan, you are lying. Here," and he took her arm and as she was not quite tall enough for him to wrap her arm around his shoulders for support, he leaned down a bit and they made their way to the nearest classroom, still empty as it was still lunch time. Nudging the door open to enter and then closed behind them, Oujiro helped a reluctant Misaki to one of the desks. To her rather great discomfort, he then lightly lifted her innocently onto the desk as though she were not more than a feather's weight.  
  
"U-um, Oujiro-san, daijoubu. I don't need anything; this is not necessary," she attempted feebly even as he was cautiously removing her right shoe and examining her foot, cradling it softly as though it might shatter in his very grasp.  
  
"Iie Misaki-chan. You're hurt. Why didn't you tell anyone? It might have worsened your condition," he noted matter-of-factly and worriedly all at once. "Hmm...matte a moment Misaki-chan," he said and exited the room hurriedly. Misaki moaned. This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. She was not a purposeful attention-getter; in fact she tried to avoid it as such, but somehow eyes always ended up on her in this school. Why, she wasn't sure.  
  
And neither was Mizawa Rei who walked calmly in, ignoring Misaki's bare foot.  
  
"Konnichi-wa Misaki-chan. I was wondering, would you like to meet me after school and go somewhere?" she asked friendly. What could Misaki say but:  
  
"Hai, I'd love to," Misaki smiled outwardly and cringed inwardly. Her traitorous mouth was always doing things she told it not to it seemed. She supposed she would have to wear the day out a slight while longer.  
  
"Sugoi! I'll see you after school out front under that really big Sakura tree, like the one at lunch, only bigger, ne?" Rei smiled a flashy white- toothed picture perfect grin and flounced off. Misaki moaned again. Why? She didn't like feeling sorry for herself, but she was dangerously near doing so in bulk...when Oujiro returned.  
  
"Wasn't that Mizawa?" he asked blandly as he approached her, with some kind of supportive bandage Misaki noticed.  
  
"Hai," Misaki said.  
  
"Ah well, too bad," he chuckled, and when Misaki gave him a wondering glance, he shrugged it away loosely, glossing over the situation by firmly but gently binding her foot with the bandage.  
  
"That should hold you for the rest of the day Misaki-chan, demo be careful, ne?" Oujiro cautioned and Misaki blushed and mustered a nod to his slowly retreating back. She pulled her shoe back on and sighed; the day was nearly over, she reminded herself and set to making her way to her next class.  
After school, Misaki waited patiently as ever under the beautiful Sakura tree for Mizawa. She sat on the ledge beneath it, wary of her right ankle as she had been all day since the accident.  
  
And she waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
And it started to rain. Misaki shivered. Should she wait still? What if Mizawa came out and when she didn't see her, became upset? She clambered ungracefully up onto the ledge completely for shelter underneath the tree's wide branches. It was frugal, but she couldn't just leave...  
  
"I just said..." a voice sounded from somewhere not very far from her. Misaki looked around rapidly. Then she heard the voices.  
  
"What do you mean? You could never best us!" came a cocky male voice.  
  
"I just said I could be as good as you," came a strong yet light female voice, seemingly young, and insistent.  
  
"Iie," the retort came. There was shuffling then the sound of someone falling and a gasp. Misaki struggled to get down from the ledge without falling herself and managed to, then dashed as well as she could to the scene. A young girl, her age, maybe one year older, was sprawled on the ground, bag some feet away from her. Her hair was short and wavy, an amazing crimson hue that framed her pretty face. Even soaked, Misaki could tell this girl was very beautiful.  
  
"You should stay out of our business anyway. You're a second year, and a girl. You're too cute to be in this kind of thing anyway. I'd rather date you than fight you," another guy from behind the fist remarked in a very chauvinistic manner. The girl reached for her bag but one of the several males congregated there kicked it swiftly out of her reach.  
  
"Stop!" Misaki was as surprised as they were when the sound left her mouth. She was little, smaller than the girl on the ground, not half as pretty [or so she thought] and not even as old, but here she was...prepared to defend her. She stopped thinking and moved herself in between the boys and the girl, still on the ground.  
  
"Who are you?" the leader asked incredulously, green eyes flashing. Misaki thought for a moment those green eyes looked familiar but brushed it off and strengthened her position. She was the only one on this girl's side.  
  
"Suzuhara Misaki," she answered truthfully. Why not tell him her name? The boy started in surprise; so this was the girl his sister was griping about during lunch. This was the girl who had single handedly and unintentionally gained the attentions of Mihara-san and Wizard-san. He stared at her. Well, she was cute but there must have been more...  
  
"Suzuhara, ne? You shouldn't talk about things you don't know about Suzuhara," he warned.  
  
"What don't I know? All I know is, is," Misaki was never great with words, but she had to say what she knew was right, what she felt, "...is that you are many and she is only one. Why are you so mean to her?"  
  
Her question was so innocently pure and concrete that the boy took a moment to respond.  
  
"Just back off girl," he scowled. This girl was challenging his authority, right in front of all his followers too. It was unforgivable.  
  
"Iie, you have to leave her alone first!" Misaki insisted, a fiery determined air making her braver, even as the cold rain poured down on her and the girl; the boys all had umbrellas.  
  
"And you'll make us?" he challenged warily. Who was this girl to say such things? She obviously didn't know who he was. But Misaki had turned her back on them, helping the girl up.  
  
"Ano, daijoubu?" Misaki asked, helping the girl up, avoiding her own injury deftly.  
  
"Hai, arigato Suzuhara-san," the girl replied and looked straight at Misaki, just slightly taller than the younger girl. Misaki looked up at her and gasped. This girl had the most vivid...red eyes? They were strangely entrancing, alert and knowing, perfect for her, Misaki absently thought.  
  
"Hey, did you hear me?" the boy brought Misaki back to attention. She turned, still in between him and the girl.  
  
"Hai, I, I will," if you don't leave on your own, Misaki thought the last part. The girl moved in front of her.  
  
"Stop Mizawa, this is not her fault," the girl said.  
  
"Mizawa?" Misaki asked. Wasn't that Rei's last name?  
  
"Hai, this is Mizawa Kokuyo, older brother of Mizawa Rei," the girl supplied. Misaki realized; that was why his green eyes seemed so familiar; Rei had the same sharp color.  
  
"And this silly girl you've been equally silly to save is Hikaru," Kokuyo scowled again.  
  
"It's not silly to help someone!" Misaki frowned. Why was he so disagreeable?  
  
"You are challenging my words again?" he asked in obvious disbelief. One of his peers stepped forward.  
  
"No one is allowed to question Mizawa!" the peer said and thoughtlessly took a swing towards Hikaru who happened to be standing in front of Misaki at this point. Misaki, for all her un-athletic ability, happened to see it coming and pushed Hikaru out of the way, ducking in the process. She amazed herself by luck sometimes.  
  
The boy stared at the empty air his hand hit. Misaki slowly rose from her low crouch. He launched at her again, and Misaki tried to twist out of his way, but forgot her ankle and it fell out from under her. Luckily, this saved her a black eye, but conversely unfortunately, ended up with her on the ground, vulnerable.  
  
"Can't you see this is pointless?" Hikaru challenged from behind Mizawa. "Let her go. Stop your little minion," Hikaru demanded. Mizawa offered her only a sadistic smile.  
  
"Hikaru-san, leave, I'm fine," Misaki smiled, stumbling up on her left foot, edging over to the ledge she sat on previously to sit and stare at the boys and Mizawa.  
  
"Iie, Suzuhara..." Hikaru began but noted the look in Misaki and stepped away. She wanted her to go for help. So she would. Hikaru ran.  
  
And suddenly, Misaki was alone.  
  
Alone with Mizawa and his gang.  
  
It was still raining.  
-------------------------------------  
  
ACK. Hikaru has entered! Isn't she the best? Will she bring help in time? Who will she get to help? Will Misaki be okay? What is it with Wizard and Oujiro, who likes Misaki the most? And what will happen when they meet Hikaru? ACK. When will the rain stop!?  
  
What will happen with the Mizawa duo? Did Mizawa Rei set this up?  
  
Misaki is so trusting, who can gently help her see that not everyone is going to be her friend?  
  
And what of her mother, where is she? How does Suzuhara Misaki really feel about not knowing her? What hides behind that carefree visage of hers she is always trying to keep up? And who can see her for how she really feels inside?  
  
REIVEIW onegai minna, and find out. ^_~  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	5. Episode Five: The Shoujo Heroine

Angelic High: Episode Five: The Shoujo Heroine  
  
Wizard and Oujiro walked side by side as always, a respectable distance apart, each as unflappable as a never-changing infinity, each his own of course. They walked in silence, Oujiro with his tell-tale smile on his face [that never seemed to tell the whole tale] and Oujiro with his imminent...whatever it was, something in between a scowl and a smile, totally unreadable and not at all unpleasant, surprisingly.  
  
Oujiro drew from his bag a sleek black umbrella; Wizard produced a dark blue one, and they exited the school building.  
  
A girl ran up to them, faster than their eyes could watch almost. She appeared out of breath and gave them a wildly desperate look.  
  
"Onegai, please, she needs help!" Hikaru breathed, soaked cold to the bone from the rain.  
  
"Who?" Wizard asked, an uneasy and sinking feeling telling him who already.  
  
"Suzuhara-san...demo, I can't remember her first name...demo she is in trouble!" Hikaru replied quickly.  
  
"Misaki?" Oujiro had a startled tone in his voice and Wizard's eyes widened ever so slightly.  
  
"Misaki?" Wizard repeated.  
  
"Hai, she's alone...with them, she wanted me to go for help, demo..." Hikaru was very worried now. She felt guilty even for following those absurd directions. Misaki was smaller than she was. What if they hurt her?  
  
"Where?" Wizard asked, an unusually urgent tone in his voice, Oujiro though was already off into the rain, not waiting, seeming to know somehow what way to go, maybe by seeing Hikaru from that way, or maybe simply from a feeling in his heart...  
  
Wizard hurried to follow, as did Hikaru.  
"Little girl hurt her ankle playing with big boys, ne?" Mizawa smirked. Misaki did something she couldn't remember ever doing, she glowered at him from her shorter position sitting on the ledge. There was no dispute here as far as her situation. It was bad. She could no longer stand and as far as she was concerned, her earlier avoidance of the punches aimed for her was pure unblemished luck. I am in trouble, she thought worriedly. She remained stubbornly silent.  
  
"I bet she's ready to ask forgiveness by now, ne?" one of them snickered. Misaki stiffened.  
  
"Iie, I didn't do anything wrong," she answered truthfully.  
  
"You intruded upon us," Mizawa accused.  
  
"Iie, I," he cut her off with a light but definite slap. Misaki felt her hand reach up absently to cup her left cheek, now stinging with unfamiliar warmth that felt paradoxical in the freezing rain, which she was numb to at this point.  
  
"Mizawa!" Misaki looked up to see a very un-Oujiro like Oujiro striding towards them, an unusual displeasure in his normally benevolent eyes. Mizawa turned and saw Oujiro and Wizard heading towards him rapidly, neither looking happy. So the Prince and his court Wizard have come, Mizawa smirked to himself and shrugged, preparing to make a hasty exit. He was a bully true, but not altogether stupid. The look Oujiro was giving him was to be heeded.  
  
He called his boys to him and they left in a hurry, leaving a stunned Misaki sitting there, wet and with a red cheek, still bitterly stinging as a reminder to her of who she was dealing with, someone not afraid to hit a girl obviously.  
  
"Misaki, daijoubu?" Oujiro reached her first, glancing first at her ankle, noticing the bandage somehow having come undone, then to her cheek which she still was gently and absently touching with her hand. He stared at her a moment.  
  
"H-hai!" Misaki smiled brightly. She felt lost inside and suddenly very scared about what she had done; she had never done anything like that. And he had hit her.  
  
He had hit her.  
  
She shivered.  
  
"She's not okay. She's an awful liar though," Wizard commented and scooped her up in his arms thoughtlessly, ignoring the look of slight irritation on the face of his best friend when he did so. When Misaki yelped and began to protest he looked down at her blandly and said:  
  
"Like you could walk on that," he gently tapped her right ankle and she winced, and he stopped, just enough to make his point and she settled. Oujiro frowned; that was unnecessary he thought as he looked down dolefully at Misaki. Her utter sogginess was soaking through Wizard's clothes but he somehow did not care. It was the all black boy's uniform as Oujiro wore; no one cared, least of all him at that moment. Hikaru leaned down close to Misaki.  
  
"Arigato Misaki-chan, you were just like one of those shoujo heroines for me; small but strong, ne," she smiled gratefully and added ruefully, "Demo, I shouldn't have left you..."  
  
"Daijoubu! I asked you to, and if you hadn't who knows what," she stopped there the carefree tone slipping involuntarily from her lips as the fear she should have felt before entered her, the fear and the strangeness. She shivered again. Oujiro stepped forward.  
  
"Let me," he insisted, asking Wizard. He felt somehow that it should be him holding this girl he had only met yesterday, but somehow felt a...kinship with. He convinced himself it was pure intrigue for the moment and nothing more.  
  
Little did he know at the time how well he lied to himself.  
  
"Iie," Wizard frowned. It appeared that Wizard was protective of the first year as well, though as to how deep his feelings ran, Oujiro had yet to puzzle out. Instead though, Oujiro only nodded and settled for taking Misaki's hand as they walked her to Wizard's house, as they knew Misaki's aunt would not be there to care for her yet. Hikaru came as well.  
  
They were all silent, Hikaru holding the umbrella over Wizard and Misaki, Oujiro holding his own in one hand and possessively almost, very unlike the normal laid back Prince of Angelic, Misaki's small hand in the other. Hikaru noticed the behavior of both boys but did not comment. Misaki obviously didn't understand yet. The boys themselves might not even realize their feelings fully yet. Such was the way these days Hikaru smiled to herself wistfully. She had just transferred to Angelic. She was a second year. And she felt a deep thanks to this girl who had unwittingly saved her from a bad situation.  
  
She knew she had to thank Misaki somehow; the girl didn't even know her and she had probably saved Hikaru from much worse than a slap, though she did feel sorry about that. She would have to apologize too. As she was contemplating this though, Misaki spoke.  
  
"Ano, Hikaru-chan, arigato," Misaki smiled up at her, as Hikaru was walking to the left of Wizard.  
  
"For what?" Hikaru asked, surprised. What on earth could Misaki be thanking her for? She had quite nearly placed the girl in a very dangerous spot and barely made it back in time with help. What was she talking about? Hikaru listened attentively.  
  
"This, this was not good, but it made me realize some things, that I can be strong too, and I just never realized, so thank you," Misaki said again.  
  
"Ano Misaki, that's not necessary. I caused you trouble and," Oujiro stopped her silently with a soft look and then pointedly glanced down at Misaki.  
  
Misaki it seemed, had passed out.  
  
After a long day of mishaps though, it was plausible that she had simply fallen asleep.  
  
They hurried faster to the house.  
Later, Misaki woke in warmth. She tried to turn in the dark warmness but found she was tightly...wrapped in many blankets. Tentatively she opened her eyes and as she focused her vision, she held back a gasp of surprise. Across from the couch she was on, Wizard sat with his chin propped up on his right hand, dozing on a comfy armchair, hair falling lazily over his eyes. Hikaru sat next to him in another armchair, sideways though, and sleeping too. And then there was Oujiro...awake and staring at her, on the floor near the foot of the couch. He raised two fingers softly to his mouth as he smiled at her and made a sweeping gesture at the duo sleeping across from them; Hikaru across from Oujiro and Wizard across from Misaki.  
  
She nodded in silence and implored Oujiro with a questioning glance. Shrugging, he only smiled benignly at her and moved closer to her at first, and then he whispered.  
  
"It's been only two hours or so but they were tired I think already; Hikaru changed your clothes if you're wondering," he added thoughtfully. Misaki, it turned out, had not given any thought to her sudden dryness and looked down, taking a sudden great interest in the oversized t-shirt and drawstring pants she now donned.  
  
"Ano..." she began.  
  
"They're Wizard's castoffs he never quite got around to um, actually casting off; he's an awful packrat," Oujiro commented amusedly.  
  
"H-hai!" Misaki again found her new clothes very interesting, bowing her head hoping her bangs covered some of the blush she was certain was covering her entire face anyway.  
  
"Ano, Misaki, daijoubu?" Oujiro asked as he had before, in the rain.  
  
"Hai, daijoubu, daijoubu," Misaki smiled.  
  
"Iie, really Misaki, are you?" he persisted. She paused, wringing the edging of the blanket on her in her hands absently.  
  
"H-hai. I was scared, demo I am okay now I think," she replied slowly.  
  
"That's a relief," Oujiro seemed to release a breath Misaki hadn't realized he'd been holding and she wondered at the way he was staring at her, as though he were trying to understand something or analyze something. What exactly, she couldn't quite decide.  
  
"I'll say!" Hikaru chirped in happily, apparently having just awoken from her nap. She had been quite distressed earlier when they had brought Misaki inside. It wasn't until Wizard, making a record day for himself of doing very un-Wizard like things, told her simply that Misaki would never blame her for anything and therefore, all she had to do was help make her warm. They were strange words but once Hikaru read into the lines she understood; it wasn't her fault he was saying in his own way. She had smiled slowly at him in gratitude and then immediately set to making Suzuhara Misaki the warm little bundle she was that morning before any of these incidents.  
  
Wizard yawned as he opened his blue eyes, adjusting to his surroundings in his house, unusually full with three other people in it, he took a moment. Then he noted Oujiro's closer proximity to Misaki and then glanced over at Hikaru.  
  
"Ohayo sleepy head," Hikaru greeted him from her comfortable position on the chair beside him.  
  
"Ohayo yourself; you couldn't have woken up more than two seconds before me," Wizard replied mildly. Hikaru laughed lightly.  
  
"Maybe," she rejoined amiably and shrugged.  
  
"Ano, what time is it?" Misaki asked.  
  
"About six now I suppose, why?" Oujiro answered her.  
  
"Iie! I have to make dinner for Shouko-san!" she cried in dismay and tried to scramble out of the couch, but only managed to tangle herself up in the blankets and tumble off the couch...right on top of Oujiro.  
  
There was no god, Misaki thought abashedly as she blushed red and then no longer placated with that seemingly mild tone, turned outright crimson. She was now, whether she liked it or not wrapped up in a cocoon like state of blankets, on Mihara Oujiro's lap. And as fate would have it, or not perhaps, she couldn't seem to move...  
  
"Gomen!" she yelped unhappily.  
  
"Daijoubu Misaki-chan," Oujiro chuckled in an un-intimidating manner, which Misaki being Misaki was still intimidated by and she vainly tried to move off of him. Ever the gentleman, he pretended to be unaware of her intense discomfort and simply helped her wobble to a position off of him firstly, and secondly, upright, leaning on her left foot greatly.  
  
"You can't walk home like that Misaki," Hikaru stated in a voice that brooked no argument.  
  
"I'll take her," Oujiro quickly said before Wizard could react and in a rather harried fashion assisted Misaki out the room to get her things and take her home.  
  
"Ja ne Misaki-chan! I'll see you tomorrow, ne?" called Hikaru brightly.  
  
"Hai!" was her reply.  
  
"That was some exit," Hikaru commented. Her answer was silence. Apparently the moment Suzuhara Misaki left the room, she took Wizard's semi-amiable attitude with her, Hikaru thought smugly. Well she would have to fix this...  
  
"Ne, Wizard-san..." she began.  
  
"Hai?" came his curt prompt.  
  
"You like Misaki-chan, ne?" she dropped it on him like a ton of bricks, blatant, straightforward, and right on target. Wizard maintained an airy silence. He blanched. Of course not, he would never. His interest was purely...wait a minute...interest? Since when? How had this slipped by him? What on earth was wrong with him?  
  
"Am I right?" Hikaru prodded speculatively.  
  
"Iie," Wizard muttered.  
  
"Ano?" Hikaru continued.  
  
"Iie!" he repeated, louder.  
  
"Really?" she asked, amused.  
  
"I don't like anyone," he stated firmly and then added, "except Oujiro." To his mortification, the crimson-eyed beauty before him, laughed at him. Then before she could turn the attack on him again, he questioned, "Why did you run?"  
  
"Because we were outnumbered," she answered simply.  
  
"You mean you would have fought had it been just you and Mizawa, a fair fight?" he asked in his no-nonsense manner.  
  
"Hai," she smiled.  
  
"What makes you so confident?" he asked aloud and wondered in interest, or perhaps, so bold?  
  
"I am not weak; I have trained for a long while in martial arts and am by no high opinion of my own, more than decent," Hikaru stated without the slightest hint of an ego, only as a fact.  
  
"And you couldn't have simply stayed and taken care of all of them?" he prodded further.  
  
"Iie, Misaki could have been taken while I couldn't protect her and held against me. It would have been like double-suicide," she resolved complacently.  
  
"I see," he understood. He had thought this might be the same girl rumored to have transferred into their grade; the fighting miracle they called her. Of course she could have won, spared Misaki a slapped cheek, but then...she might have risked much worse and she knew her limits. That was admirable, he thought, though he would never admit it out loud. It simply wasn't his way.  
  
At least now he understood.  
  
"I plan to teach Misaki-chan how to fight," Hikaru smiled. Somehow this seemed wrong to Wizard.  
  
"Why?" he asked, surprised by the almost pleading tone in his voice, like that of an older brother.  
  
"Because she must know how to defend herself and then," she paused as she stood and grabbed her things, readying to leave Wizard to himself for a while, "and then next time trouble comes our way, we'll be the undefeatable pair!" she laughed confidently and good-naturedly as she said farewell to Wizard and exited the house.  
  
And Wizard was left there to contemplate how Oujiro and Misaki were coping on the way to her house.  
  
And exactly what a fighting duo like Hikaru, already dubbed the "Fighting Miracle" and Misaki who seemed for all her endless depths of nice, not to be very good in the athletic sense.  
  
He rubbed his temples and went to the kitchen.  
  
Food was the answer to all of his problems at this point, he thought wryly and began throwing pots and pans around in his decision-making for what to cook for dinner.  
  
Then it occurred to him, would Misaki want to learn to fight? She had said she wanted to be strong. Was it the same thing?  
  
He would have to ask her tomorrow, he mused as he set some soup to boil on the stove.  
  
Setting the timer he up and re-entered the living room, rearranging everything back into place, to find a small pin of wings, Misaki's probably he thought as he placed it in his pocket. He would return it to her tomorrow when he asked her about fighting.  
Tomorrow.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
REVIEW ONEGAI! Hikaru is strong but they were, as said, outnumbered and she knew this from her own battle intelligence; gomen for making her entrance that way but it went with the story and we wanted little Misaki to have a Shoujo heroine moment as she always dreamed. ^_^ Aiyaa.I love Misakichi! [And everyone else from Angelic Layer...]  
  
Hehehe, review for the next chapter!  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	6. Angelic High: Episode Six: Invited

Angelic High: Episode Six: Invited  
  
Hikaru mused to herself that she very much liked the idea of facing the Mizawa cretin one on one and entertained the possibility even of challenging him.  
  
Then she changed her mind. That was quite simply, asking for trouble. No, she would wait. She knew from experience anyway that she would get her chance. Guys like Mizawa never stayed quite long enough...and neither did the girls, Hikaru added mentally as she recalled the ashen glare Mizawa Rei sent Misaki that previous afternoon.  
  
And so in a sense, she wasn't so disappointed when Misaki told her she didn't want to learn how to fight, of her own accord anyway. It simply didn't suit her at the time; however as Hikaru watched, she noticed almost inaudible sighs of extreme relief in Wizard and Oujiro. She smirked. So overprotective, she thought.  
  
"Hikaru-chan, I know that maybe one day it might be good for me to learn, but right now, all I can do is fight, in my own way," Misaki struggled to explain herself but Hikaru laid a kind hand on her shoulder and nodded. Apparently she understood already.  
  
As it turned out, Mizawa Rei ran to apologize to Misaki during lunch, slightly brushing against Oujiro in passing; if he noticed though, Oujiro of course gave no indication of it. She claimed there had been a miscommunication.  
  
"Right..." Hikaru remarked a mite sarcastically under her breath.  
  
"Did you say something Hikaru-san?" Mizawa asked innocently, though her eyes conveyed a contradictory message of warning. Hikaru merely shrugged.  
  
"Ano, gomen for not being there Mizawa-san!" Misaki bowed her head, obviously unaware of the game being played here; Oujiro and Wizard had some idea though and shook their heads absently.  
  
"Daijoubu," Mizawa smiled like the cat pouncing on its dinner and continued, "Demo, I was thinking would you and Hikaru-san, Oujiro-san and Wizard-san like to come to my family's gala this weekend?"  
  
"Ano, what is a gala?" Misaki wondered aloud.  
  
"It's a very high class party; you'd have to dress formally," Mizawa said.  
  
"Er, I can't speak for the others, demo I'll go. I need to apologize somehow for not being there yesterday," Misaki said in her usual manner, simple and decidedly naïve. Wizard felt like smacking his hand to his forehead...and would have if it were not completely against his Wizard-like nature. He settled for an upward roll of the eyes. Oujirou was having similar thoughts as well as that which, he thought, meant he could not let her go alone into another of Mizawa's traps.  
  
"Hai, then I'll come as well," Oujirou answered, not missing the excited glint in Mizawa Rei's eyes when he said so. He repressed a groan.  
  
"Watashi mo!" Hikaru joined in; she felt a sisterly need to watch over little Misaki, a fast-binding friend whom she felt a deep companionship with already.  
  
"I'll also attend," Wizard remarked, as though commenting on the weather, his distaste concealed but not his disinterest. Mizawa bit back her tongue from producing a scathing remark for the handsome Wizard...no pun intended.  
  
"Sugoi!" Rei pretended to be overjoyed, and added, "This Friday night, my house; I'll send the directions to you before then! Ja ne!" And she was gone...much to the relief of everyone but Misaki. Misaki was about to speak when Tamayo and Kotaro came bounding up...well, Tamayo bounded up; Kotaro was kind of dragged as usual.  
  
"Tamayo-chan!" Misaki started in surprise.  
  
"Ohayo MISAKICHIIIIIII!" Tamayo greeted happily, kindly releasing a rather blue Kotaro from the strangle hold.  
  
"O-ohayo Suzuhara," he gasped. As soon as he regained his composure, he noted Wizard, Oujirou and Hikaru. He also noted the proximity with which the Prince of Angelic High was standing to Misaki, likewise Wizard. Tamayo also noted this. Her eyes lit up.  
  
"Oooh! Misakichi has two boyfriends, ne?" Tamayo never missed a chance to tease poor Misaki into flushes and blushes of the most extravagant kinds...and she most certainly wasn't going to pass this one up, however inaccurate...or accurate she thought smiling to herself...she was. Not to be disappointed, Tamayo grinned like the Cheshire cat when Misaki's face went from pink to rosy to red to downright crimson and back again.  
  
"Naaaa!? Iie! Iie!" she protested as Tamayo continued to tease her. Kotaro sighed and in his level headed manner, eyed Wizard and Oujirou strongly. They each met his gaze; the fact that he was a year younger than them didn't seem to stop him from silently challenging them, saying that if anything bad happened to Suzuhara Misaki, there would be trouble. Aside from Tamayo being head over heels for her new friend, Kotaro himself found her to be strikingly endearing, sweet and though she was his age, reminded him of his little sister, Hatoko. Of course, Hatoko was much younger and a prodigy, but it was the childlike air and that Misaki emanated that so endeared her to him in that brotherly and sisterly fashion. It seemed he was not the only one drawn to her way of being.  
  
Already the Wizard, the Prince, and...was that the Fighting Miracle, or so- called? Yes they had all congregated in a pact of silence, of friendship and compassion for this magical girl Suzuhara Misaki, whose way of magic it seemed to Wizard, who was now blatantly watching her, was nothing like his own. His was to keep most people away, bounce them off like he had an invisible magic guard that kept them at a safe distance from his life, and from his heart. No instead she drew people in, brought them up close to her and unknowingly, bewitched them with her natural cute and endlessly kind disposition.  
  
That was magic, thought Wizard. To truly be one's self and have people still love you as much as they all did her...wait a minute. Love? He quickly averted his gaze to the wall rather than on Misaki's face and squashed that thought avidly. No way. Not in a million years...right?  
  
Oujirou languidly observed everything as usual from behind half-shaded eyes that noticed everything compared to the nothing that he appeared to take in. Master of observation and Prince of strategy in life, Oujirou had always known how to be nice and courteous; it was his natural way. But he also knew how to manipulate people and trick them. It wasn't something he was proud of; he simply could and sometimes did without realizing it, usually for the good of something bigger though. And sometimes...  
  
Sometimes he indulged his subconscious whims through his harmless manipulation...  
  
"Misaki-chan," Oujiro spoke, "Since we are al going to the gala, you will need an escort," he stated. Tamayo who had stopped teasing Misaki at the sound of the Prince's voice got stars in her eyes and glee written all over her face as she realized where this was going for her little Misakichi. Kotaro also knew and he bit his tongue from offering before Oujirou could, if only to keep the so-called Prince at arm's length. Dutifully he held his tongue though.  
  
It would be Misaki's choice. Hikaru realized as well and shared with herself a secret smile; this was too kawaii. Then she noticed Wizard who looked even less pleasant than normal...which was to say he looked unpleasant instead of expressionless. He was watching Oujirou with a startlingly intense gaze that it seemed to Hikaru, Oujirou was pointedly ignoring meeting.  
  
Ask her first! Wizard cringed at that traitorous part of him in his head, or was it his traitorous heart? What did he know of things like this? How as he to know exactly what he was feeling anyway? What could he do about it but watch and wait? He didn't know. This was so very new to him; he was used to not really feeling anything but mild emotions, amusement, or acknowledgements. No, this was completely different and he wasn't certain whether it was sporadic or sincere.  
  
And that is perhaps what made him keep silent as Oujirou said:  
  
"May I escort you Misaki-chan?" And he smiled that smile of his that Wizard suddenly found somewhat grating on his nerves; it was that carefree smile Oujirou had developed some time ago, the one that not surprisingly made women melt before him into undignified puddles of goo. Somehow he felt a level of satisfaction when Misaki did not melt but knew this was because of her unawareness of the situation and what Oujirou really meant.  
  
No, she said yes, at least for the moment, as a friend, though Wizard did not miss the instantaneous blush on her cheeks or the softening in her eyes. What Oujirou really meant, Wizard thought, surprising himself with the bitterness of his thought: was, may I take you out, and not just walking, no, on a...a...Wizard struggled with the new vocabulary in his head...  
  
A date.  
  
Misaki was going on a date with Oujirou.  
  
With "Prince" Oujirou, Tamayo thought with fairy-tale hearts in her eyes, already planning things with an unusually silent Kotaro beside her.  
  
With that guy...Kotaro thought warily.  
  
With Mihara-san, Hikaru thought happily for Misaki who seemed to like him to her, even if Misaki didn't know it yet. She looked back at Wizard. His face was back to being expressionless but Hikaru surprised herself by suddenly being able to peel away his well done mask and see past it. He was hurting, she thought in dismayed surprise. And apparently he didn't know quite why, Hikaru observed sadly. She felt a twinge in her own self but ignored it; she had just met Wizard; surely she did not like him. In any case, he seemed, or so it seemed to her he did, have a case of juvenile but undeniable, unrequited love.  
  
Only because you don't say anything though, Hikaru noted wisely. She knew already, only having met Misaki nearly the same time as she did Wizard, that Misaki would love him. She seemed to be able to love everyone...so openly. Hikaru questioned that, not unfairly, but wonderingly. How could one so young, love so freely? Was there more than met the eye behind this sweet and carefree girl? Hikaru had a sense for fighting but she also had a sense equally apt for this and it told her not only was there more, there was an entirely different story with Suzuhara Misaki.  
  
She had a sense, but she didn't know exactly how right she was.  
  
But they would all find that out later.  
  
At this moment, it seemed Misaki and Oujirou were attending the gala. And so were she and Wizard. Unthreateningly, she took a breath and slowed this odd racing in her heart that she quickly beat down mentally and turned to look up at Wizard. She smiled in a resignedly friendly manner; for that was all it was at that moment, Hikaru's subconscious sadly thought.  
  
"Ano," Hikaru wondered why suddenly she was feeling shy and pushed the weirdness away by slapping Wizard uncharacteristically on the back to get his attention, pal-like, "So I guess it's just you and me, ne?" Wizard glanced down at her, coming out of his inner turmoil for a moment and silently thanked the crimson-eyed girl beside him fro doing so. How long he had been standing there heedlessly he knew not, but was glad to see that even Oujirou was too busy with a laughin Tamayo and blushing Misaki to notice his lapse. Apart of him noted that Hikaru had not missed it.  
  
"Hai," he nodded and they watched the antics of Tamayo blissfully and loudly planning out all the preparations, Kotaro still somewhat glaring at Oujirou in discontent, and Misaki...  
  
Somehow again at the center of attention.  
  
"Naaa!" she sighed and looked down. Oujirou-san is going to escort me? She wondered at her hasty acceptance. Not that she didn't like Oujirou, she just couldn't puzzle out the emotions swirling in her every time he looked at her, not with his normal public smile or visage, but with something subtly more intimate, more wistful. Yes, she noticed that, if not anything else, perhaps because at this range, her entire scope was of Oujirou. Or maybe it was something more...  
  
Perhaps they would find out at the gala.  
  
The only purpose to going for the three besides Misaki was to protect her and in that they wordlessly agreed. There was not much one could do to a girl in public but there were many mishaps that could happen and with Mizawa one and two behind this entire bash, it wasn't altogether unlikely that all of them would happen.  
  
But in the end at least, they would all be there to pick up the pieces.  
Provided those pieces didn't hit too close to home.  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
ONEGAI REVIEW!  
  
It will keep the story going, ne? ^_^ I hope someone likes it still...if not of course, I could stop this one and start something else...it all depends on what you readers want [for me to continue this story letting me know by way of reviews, or for me to scrap it, letting me know by way of no reviews!]  
  
Personally I like it so far; it's not my best writing but it's decent I think, mostly but...well like I said, it's kind of up to you all. ^_~  
  
Arigato minna for reviewing already, all those who did; I appreciate it beyond the ability of words to express!  
  
Next Episode: The Gala and The Past Part A  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	7. Episode Seven: Lost

DISCLAIMER: Don't we all want to own Angelic Layer? ^_~ Sadly we do not, least of all me. I can never live up to the incredible genius of CLAMP nor their writing, but I do enjoy indulging myself and writing these fics, hoping you all find them at least minutely good to read.  
Angelic High: Episode Seven: Lost  
"Naaa!?" Misaki didn't need any more incentive to blush than put on the gown chosen for her companionably by Tamayo who was convinced Misakichi would look absolutely irresistible in it.  
  
Misaki refrained from spoiling her friend's great enthusiasm by withholding the fact that she felt being irresistible was not in her scope of possibilities, nor was it her wish if she could.  
  
Still, it was a beautiful dress.  
  
"Er, Misaki-chan, are you coming out?" Hikaru's voice sounded, curious as to what had provoked such a reaction from Misaki.  
  
"H-hai," Misaki was just glad Wizard, Oujirou and Kotaro were not there. Otherwise she never would have even put the dress on, much less walked out into the open dressing area...with all those unfortunately placed mirrors. Tentatively, Misaki opened the changing room door and stepped out, wincing as if from some invisible hurt, thought it was really because she didn't want to look at herself in the beautiful gown.  
  
In Misaki's mind, you could put a crown of jewels and gold on any person's head and they would not be king or queen. They would simply remain as a normal person only wearing a crown atop their heads. It was the same; if she wore this dress, she was still just plain Suzuhara Misaki. The fact that she was not at all plain but very cute and even pretty did not register in her mind any time she looked in the mirror, regardless of its truth. No, she just saw herself, looking decent enough.  
  
Hikaru and Tamayo on the other hand, had the right perspective.  
  
"Sugoi! Misakichi! Look, look! No, no, open your eyes you silly!" Tamayo dragged a still closed-eyes Misaki over to one of the largest mirrors; it seemed to dwarf her tiny frame but that made her appearance even more petite and sweet. If only she would open her eyes to see, Hikaru thought amusedly. Obviously this girl had never worn anything of the sort before, nor had she any comprehension of her cute demeanor.  
  
Tamayo and Hikaru had their own kind of beauty; Tamayo was spunky but true and slender and very athletic, blessed with a lithe body and height. Hikaru was short, though not as short as Misaki, but also very slender. Her eyes were her most captivating trait, as their color was so unusually exotic, a startling crimson. Hikaru had a dress at home she could wear, or so she claimed.  
  
Only Misaki was left, to her personal chagrin.  
  
"Come on MISAKICHIIII!" Tamayo used her signature Misakichi call to give Misaki incentive to open her eyes.  
  
And open them she did.  
  
"Na---Naaa?!" Misaki swore inside that the girl before her was not herself or that it was some kind of mirage to fade away if she got too close to the mirror.  
  
She looked good...  
  
Really good.  
  
"See?" Tamayo's telltale grin of satisfaction crept over her face and she faced Hikaru to shake hands as if they had just concluded some great business deal. Mission complete!  
--------------------  
The invitations arrived Friday night; the gala was for Saturday night now for some reason.  
  
Oujirou and Wizard had promised...or rather Oujirou had promised and Wizard had agreed in pensive silence that they would pick up Hikaru and Misaki at Misaki's house around seven. Wizard kept grumbling about not knowing how he had gotten into this and why on earth was he going and so forth. This amused Hikaru who noted that this was a part of the Wizard people didn't normally get close enough to see; the human side. Normally he acted much like a well-oiled machine, except that he didn't always listen to you of course.  
  
Oujirou would only smiled and shrug his nonchalantly coined expression and then go back to doing thinking of his own, which to his sudden realization, seemed to revolve much around Suzuhara Misaki. He had asked her to go...why? This was not normal, the very logical and almost conservative part of his conscious told him. This was not normal at all...for a first year to be so entrancing to him, Prince of Angelic? It wasn't that he was egotistical; it was just strange to realize that one's long dormant reservoirs of affection were suddenly brought to life, not by some prematurely curvy high school third year or fourth or even one of his own age [and all had approached him at one point or another], no, but by a very short, slender child of a girl.  
  
Yes this was far from normal.  
  
And yet he found himself arguing with...well, himself, less and less about the matter. What he had found to be true, was that he was happier when he was around Suzuhara Misaki, that she made him feel like it was okay to do anything, whether it matched up to his image of the Prince or not.  
  
Simultaneously though, it wasn't that she didn't care; it was only that she didn't mind.  
  
She didn't mind.  
  
That his interest in her was more than friendly, he had deduced to his at first, somewhat disturbed consciousness. There was proof though, proof he had laid out for himself in the past two days or so repeatedly: his sudden wish to go out of his way for her, to see her smile [which thankfully, was more often than not], then there was the subtle interest Wizard showed, which bothered him. He had at first not understood why it should bother him that Wizard might fancy Misaki except perhaps that it was extremely out of character for him to like anyone as a friend, much less in the way that he seemed to be heading.  
  
That was another thing. How exactly did Wizard feel about her? Oujirou had made every attempt to foil any of Wizard's advances by being there first, always first; that was another tip off of proof for the Prince that his eyes on Misaki were not merely companionable.  
  
This is bad, was his first thought. If Wizard did like her, what could he do? Would he just let his own whims pass? Probably not...Oujirou groaned internally. What to do?  
  
He wasn't altogether sure.  
  
Wizard on the other hand, as they walked in easy silence together to pick up Hikaru and Misaki, he was struggling as well. He felt like acting completely un-Wizard like and having an all out tantrum, something he could not ever remember doing, not even as a child. But what was happening inside him now, it was enough to call for it. Suzuhara Misaki, what intrigues me about you? He wondered. Hikaru, fighting miracle, was that wistfulness he had seen in her beautiful crimson eyes the last time she looked at him? Hold on a second...who said beautiful? You did, his higher self said in evident amusement and he promptly told his higher self to kindly shut up.  
  
He just wasn't in the mood for enlightenment.  
  
Two girls, both of which intrigued him in different ways...those ways he had yet to puzzle out it might be noted.  
  
Like said before, he was in the mood for a grand old tantrum, perhaps a few very loud obscenities and a bout of throwing miscellaneous useless objects...yes that was what he wanted, he decided irately as they continued to walk, ignoring the questioning glances Oujirou sent his way at decidedly random intervals.  
  
He was irate; true, he wasn't exactly great at handling the unexpected, especially in the form of the opposite gender. The only person he had had to deal with in years other than himself was Oujirou, and contrary to popular belief, the Prince could be just as much of a loner and cold machine as Wizard was reputed to be. Wizard was just not used to these...what were they? Feelings? Emotions? They swirled in prismatic colors in his mind and heart like some crazed artist's masterpiece work until all he saw was the mass of confusion in a conglomeration of abruptly vivid colours...that all slowly dimmed to a moderate black and white as they approached Misaki's house.  
  
They were here. It was time.  
  
Oujirou glanced at him again and paused before knocking lightly on the door.  
  
Wizard would sort the rest of his conflicts later, or so he thought. Right now was too much to deal with without pondering one's heart, the historically most chaotic part of a human.  
  
"Hai! Coming!" Shouko appeared at the door; as Misaki's aunt, she was also her caretaker but normally she worked so much it was difficult to find time to be with the young girl, daughter of her sister. So when she found out about the gala, she crunched times and extended hours elsewhere to be there and see her off...and, Shouko thought slyly, see who was "escorting them."  
  
"Evening gentlemen," she smiled at them; my, they certainly are handsome young men, Shouko thought. Way to go Misaki-chan. Oujirou wore a sleek black tuxedo...with a coordinating cape that had a smoky silver lining. Wizard wore the same, but his lining was a vivid deep blue, subtly making the connection between his blue eyes and hair.  
  
As a guild we practice the art of anime, watch it, reaGood evening Suzuhara- sama," Oujirou bowed in greeting and Wizard followed suit before they stepped inside.  
  
"Just Shouko-san is fine, and Misaki and Hikaru will be down in a second methinks," Shouko grinned at them and disappeared into the kitchen where she had left her dinner boiling precariously. [That was why she normally let Misaki cook...not only was it much more palatable than her own cuisine, but it had less chance of setting the house on fire...or worse.]  
  
Wizard and Oujirou stood at ease in the foyer, waiting for Hikaru and Misaki to come down the stairs; they didn't wait long.  
  
Soft steps were heard and they looked up.  
  
It was cliché, like a movie scene, and yet it was better because it was real.  
  
Hikaru apparently had had a dress indeed. It was a classy long black dress that slightly dipped in the back, elegant and mature. Adorning her right wrist was a simple clasp of plain white gold. The front of the dress was modest but attractive and accentuated every bit of Hikaru's femininity to perfection without being...inappropriate. She was like a fire goddess with her flame eyes and correlating beautifully natural hair.  
  
And then she spoiled the look by laughing unabashedly at the two young men who, suddenly realized, they were staring. Oujirou had the grace to offer a smile as if saying, "How could I help myself?" while Wizard looked away jerkily. This, Hikaru noticed in bright amusement and she descended the stairs to take his proffered arm, him still pointedly looking away.  
  
"Misaki?" Hikaru called up to her, knowing how long it had taken her to convince the younger girl to put the dress on again, then there was the fact that she had nearly run out the window when her aunt approached her with a small amount of make-up...it had been quite the challenge. In the end though, Misaki was convinced to wear the dress...and the persistent Shouko allowed her to get away with a simple lip-gloss. So where was she, Hikaru thought worriedly. If she had locked herself in her room they'd never get her out...and then Suzuhara Misaki walked down the stairs.  
  
Mihara Oujirou was speechless. Wizard never thought he'd see the day THAT happened. Then he looked up at the descending Misaki and saw exactly why his best friend was rendered so.  
  
Apparently the humble and shy Misaki hid quite an attractive self under her normal school uniform. She wasn't as developed as Hikaru but it was her slender and subtle, ever so subtle curves that gave her a glowing kind of beauty that transcended her childlike being into a woman without going all the way. The dress was a pure snow white with crossed straps in the front that came around her neck to tie in the back...speaking of which, there wasn't really any. Her luminously pale skin actually looked more pigmented next to the white fabric but glowed from its shine in an angelic way...how appropriate. It was also long like Hikaru's but had a wavy hem that reminded one of a princess's dress.  
"Misaki-chan, kirei," Hikaru breathed. Apparently Shouko must have accosted her one last time because ever so sparingly, there were a few sparkles at the edges of Misaki's eyes, clear, so that one only saw them if the light hit them right, finishing her angelic look perfectly.  
  
"Hai, perfect," Oujirou agreed, smiling in awe and something more. He took her hand and they waved farewell to Shouko until much later that night.  
  
"Ja ne Shouko-san!" they called and off they went.  
  
Shouko smiled after them but as their retreating forms disappeared, her smile dimmed.  
  
"Shuu, your daughter...she's so wonderful...you've missed so much..." she whispered sadly as she closed the door quietly, even though no one was around to hear even the softest click.  
The quartet walked in the warm night weather at peace with each other, each wondering different things and coming to their own conclusions on them. They had decided to walk to the gala, as it was a mere two blocks away nearly and it seemed, all of them preferred walking.  
  
Misaki watched as the sun sunk low behind the horizon, paying half- attention to her feet, just enough to keep her walking in a straight line next to Oujirou. The sky had dimmed, or brightened, into a magnificent violet hue streaked with vibrant reds, dotted with night's first waking stars. It was like magic.  
  
Oujirou watched her out of his peripheral vision, his previous rolling emotions subdued to a quiet calm, as normal. When he discreetly took her hand in his as they walked, he did so without looking directly at her; he needn't look. He could veritably feel the blush emanating from her. But she didn't pull away.  
  
Hikaru walked at a respectable pace matching Wizard's unconsciously long stride, hidden due to his composure and the leisurely way in which he moved. Her hand was laid equally respectably on his arm and they were both fine with that. It was comfortable and both Wizard and Hikaru could attest to preferring that above all else.  
  
They arrived at the house and even Mihara Oujirou gaped; his house was not even this large. It was a near-castle, gargantuan and grandiose, all of those things plus some kind of ornately polished garnish of extravagance. This was the Mizawa residence and it sparkled with the glitter of high society.  
  
Ladies in gorgeous gowns, men in their tailored tuxedoes, much like the quartet at hand, but different as many were slightly older or even if they were their age...higher on the chart. Society was sticky and all four knew originally, except Oujirou, that none of them really belonged here. But here they were.  
  
"Minna-san!" Mizawa Rei approached them, a deep green dress hugging her body in a surprisingly not inappropriate fashion, though the neckline was questionably low. Her eyes were enhanced by the dress and her hair shone as it swished around her in its sophisticated and primped state.  
  
"Mizawa-san, arigato," Misaki bowed. Everyone else bowed as well and thanked her...well, Hikaru did not thank her but Rei did not seem to care. Her eyes were all for Mihara Oujirou...or rather, on him. Misaki didn't notice. She had suddenly found her feet, notably hidden underneath the flowing layers of her gown, feeling strange in this upper-class setting. Wizard noticed though and suppressed what he guessed would have been something between a scowl and derisive laughter at his friend's situation. This girl had it bad for him, and she wasn't giving up.  
  
"Enjoy yourselves minna, gomen I can't show you around, demo I'll be terribly busy," and Rei left in a hurry, leaving the four to stand wondering where they should go. They were so enthralled in looking around to see any form of indication of the proper direction to head in, none noticed the approaching figures until a finger tapped Misaki's shoulder lightly. She jumped in surprise and turned, coming face to face with Kokuyo. Misaki's eyes widened at the close proximity of his face to hers and she backed up hastily, backed right into Oujirou who bumped into Hikaru who fell onto Wizard who luckily for both of them, caught his balance and Hikaru too. Kokuyo chuckled his amusement while they collected themselves, Oujirou's hand straying protectively to clasp Misaki's. She gulped.  
  
"Good evening Suzuhara. I thought I might show you and your friends where to go, as you all seem to be lost," he made no attempt to hide his satisfaction and without waiting for a reply, simply grabbed Misaki's free hand and pulled her along behind him.  
  
Naturally, everyone followed in a harried pace.  
  
"You know I could have sworn that you were a completely different person from the little girl who got in my way the other day; you look very...different," he said as they came to a stop before two grand doors, turning and eyeing her appraisingly. Hikaru stepped forward before this could continue though and intervened before Oujirou lost his infamous patience and Wizard burned a hole in Kokuyo's head by glaring at him so.  
  
"I hear music," she began and Kokuyo's attention was on her.  
  
"Hai, there is dancing," he paused and then asked as though he already knew the answer, "May I have this dance, Hikaru-san?" as he opened the doors for them into the splendid ballroom of glitz and grandeur.  
  
"Iie Mizawa-san, she's dancing with me," Wizard shocked himself by saying and walking purposely through the doors, remembering to grab Hikaru's hand as he passed. What am I doing, he asked himself in his head and he lead them out to the dance floor the same way he would lead an army into battle. Hikaru, after getting over her initial surprise, was pleased that he had been so valiant; otherwise Kokuyo might have ended up with a bloodied nose or a broken knee if she had been left to it on her own. A waltz was beginning.  
  
"Ano, arigato Wizard," she smiled up at him gratefully and Wizard could only do the typical Wizard thing before he was lost in her crimson eyes...  
  
"Feh, it was nothing," he protested dully but Hikaru recognized the difference in his tone and just continued to smile.  
  
Each moment in time, little by little, I'm getting to know who you really are Wizard, she thought, and it's never boring.  
  
They continued to waltz.  
  
"Well, Misaki-chan, shall we?" Oujirou gently coaxed her into the dancing couples and began to lead. Mizawa Kokuyo shrugged but as he walked by the pair, he looked down at Misaki with a thoughtful glance.  
  
"Save me a dance Suzuhara," he said before disappearing into the many faces of the crowd. Oujirou, immaculate Oujirou, could not repress a deep scowl at his words. Who did he think he was? He had slapped Misaki no less than two days ago, did he just forget? Oujirou was well insulted enough for both of them, which did well because Misaki was not insulted in the least...only confused, but she would never admit it. She never wanted to trouble anyone...  
  
I never want to bring anyone trouble, she thought sadly as she whirled with Oujirou in three-quarter time. I don't want to lose anyone else by being troublesome, her eyes were heavy with hurt as she remembered...and then she was back in the dance room, smiling brightly up at Oujirou, who had been a second too slow to notice her minute sadness and only saw carefree Misakichi.  
  
For a long time now, Misaki thought, all they have seen is carefree me...and that's how it must stay for me to keep my friends, she thought as the waltz ended.  
They met back up with Hikaru and Wizard after a couple waltzes and by the time it was almost the leaving hour, they were surprised to know, nothing had happened, nothing troublesome or vindictive, other than Kokuyo Mizawa's mere existence, in Oujirou and Wizard's opinions, which it seemed just couldn't be helped.  
  
It came down to the last hour.  
  
And that's when it happened.  
  
"Minna! I know I haven't been with you at all, demo, I wanted to show you something before you left! Come with me," Rei popped up out of nowhere, to everyone but Misaki's great disturbance and dragged all four of them behind her toward her "surprise."  
  
Misaki was in awe. It was a garden maze, a real one, like from all those stories her mother...her eyes flickered in sadness at that thought but her other musings continued...all those stories her mother told her when she was only three or so. All the ones in the stories were magical or had something magical about them.  
  
"Sugoi, ne?" Rei grinned and took Misaki by the hand.  
  
"Naaa!?" Misaki looked up at the older girl in confusion, missing Rei's shady-eyed look that belied her true intent. And no one else was close enough to see.  
  
"You first Misaki-chan," Rei smiled, an actress of high caliber as she gushed in fake enthusiasm. "It's wonderful and easy to get out of so it's just like walking through a really fun park!" And before anyone could stop her, Rei dragged Misaki bodily into the maze and ran off with her, pulling her along. She did this until they were thoroughly in the thick of it and Misaki was thoroughly lost.  
  
"Wait here Suzuhara, I'll bring Oujirou and the others," Rei said and pounced off, not noticing her slip from the very friendly "Misaki-chan" to the formal "Suzuhara."  
  
Misaki looked around. It was very beautiful she thought absently as she walked around, thinking she wasn't going very far, following the lovely natural and ornate patterns of the flora. To her mortification though, when she turned to go back to her waiting spot, she found she could not find the telltale bench that had marked it...  
  
"Iie..." she breathed in dismay.  
  
She was lost.  
Meanwhile:  
  
Mizawa Rei walked leisurely back to the entrance, giving the unsuspecting Misaki plenty of time to get lost and then plastered on a fake smile that was only real when she looked at Oujirou.  
  
"Rei-san, where's Misaki?" Oujirou asked first and her insides boiled at his question, asking about the...the child when she, Mizawa Rei, was right there for him.  
  
"She said she wanted to look around, demo I can take you to her if you want," she grabbed Oujirou's arm and moved quickly into the maze, leaving a doubly startled and confused Hikaru and Wizard. After five minutes, they both were frowning fiercely. After ten, they were tapping a foot each. After fifteen they both thought to Hell with it and purposely strode into the maze, calling the names of their friends, Rei exempted.  
Even more so meanwhile:  
  
Mizawa Rei was uncomfortably close for Oujirou and he attempted to disengage her from his person, but she seemed totally oblivious of his attempts; if anything, her hold on him tightened, rather possessively too.  
  
"Ano, Rei-san, is she near here?" Oujirou asked and did not miss this time, the flash of anger in her eyes at his reference to Misaki.  
  
"Hai," was her terse answer and then her voice melted slightly into a more coy tone, "Demo, she's looking at everything, why not stay here with me a while?"  
  
This was a bit too much for Oujirou. He gently pushed Rei away.  
  
"Gomen Rei-san, but I can't return those feelings," he said gravely and her coy smile twisted into an almost pityingly agonized expression.  
  
"Why? Why do you like her so? She isn't as pretty as I am, and there's nothing she has that I don't! I don't understand you Oujirou!" she cried in frustration. She had liked him for a long time, years, and he had never accepted her in that way, though she knew in her heart he had never led her on in any way. He was only his normal charming self, and that was enough to get her obsessively into him as a person and an icon at the school. She had liked him for so long...tried for so long...and then Suzuhara Misaki appeared and had both him and Wizard on either side, Hikaru appearing soon thereafter to suddenly interest Wizard as well...it was too much. Rei had spent so much time, wanting Mihara Oujirou, wishing for him, trying to get him to notice her in that special way...  
  
"That's why, Rei-san," Oujirou said.  
  
"Huh?" she was fed up and confused.  
  
"You don't understand me, but I feel somehow, that Misaki does..." he said softly.  
  
"How can that be when you've only known her for almost less than a week!?" she cried in denial.  
  
"It just is," he replied.  
  
"Well, you know what ELSE just IS?" she yelled, suddenly furious, furious with Mihara Oujirou for being so kind and good, so good and so very perfect even in not liking herself, furious with herself for wanting him still, furious with herself for hating Suzuhara Misaki.  
  
Do I hate her? Rei wondered, her emotions contorting in ugly fashion and as she stared at Oujirou and noted the lack of love for her there and all the love he had for Misaki, she knew that whether she meant to or not, she couldn't help but dislike the girl who stole a love away from her she never even had.  
  
"What else is, she is somewhere in this maze and good luck ever finding her before something happens to her!" Rei cried spitefully before running away, knowing her way out by pure memory of living there, dreaming about being with Oujirou there in a loving embrace, and now she knew whenever she went there, it would be an empty dream.  
  
Now she had a new mission, no longer her dream of course; that was gone forever. No, her mission now was Suzuhara Misaki. It was difficult to imagine anyone having a less than perfect life if Mihara Oujirou was in love with them, but she was going to try and make it so.  
  
Misaki had ruined her life, inadvertently, and she wanted some kind of retribution.  
  
Rei felt tears and brushed them viciously away.  
  
No tears for someone who doesn't love me back, she thought stubbornly as she ran out of the maze, leaving a startled Oujirou.  
  
Then her words sunk in and he was running deeper into the maze...before something happens to Misaki, he thought frantically, feeling as he had never felt before: dead worried.  
  
"Misaki!" he yelled, making his way swiftly through the flora and pathways.  
  
Somewhere on the other side of the maze, Wizard and Hikaru called for Oujirou and Misaki.  
  
Somewhere in between the two, Misaki was desperately looking for some way out. This was bringing back bad memories suddenly; they were things she had forced herself to forget before but now...now...  
  
"Okaasan..." she cried softly as a few tears escaped. Onegai, she thought, where are you? And yet she knew; this was not her childhood again, when her mother always came for her, always rescued her like her Angel from heaven in the stories. No this was her life now, without her Okaasan. Without.  
  
In renewed determined demeanor, Misaki dried her tears bravely. If any of the others found her with tears, she would have to explain, and that might burden them and then...she cringed inside; they might leave her too...  
  
Just like Okaasan.  
  
"Misaki!" Oujirou called again.  
  
The foursome was separated, two on their own, two together, and all looking for each other...  
  
Deep in a maze made by the Mizawas, beautiful but with hidden dangers.  
  
And Misaki, the most lost of them all, was nearest to that danger.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Review onegai minna-san?  
  
Arigato for all those who are reviewing my stories. It means a great deal to me  
  
Next chapter? Review, ne? ^_~  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	8. Episode Eight: Past and Present

Ohayo minna! Arigato for reviewing. If you really like Oujirou and Misaki pairing, if you have a moment, please read my other Angelic Layer fic: Only Your Wizard. Onegai and review it, ne? ^_~ That should tie you over until I get back to this one in a day or so, maybe sooner if time allows.  
  
Again, thank you so much to all those who are reviewing constantly for me in each "episode" or chapter. It gives me extra incentive to work faster and better on the stories.  
  
Angelic High: Episode Eight: Past and Present  
Misaki remembered a time when Okaasan's hands were always there to catch her.  
  
Misaki remembered a time when all she needed was to think perchance that she wished Shuuko would come along, and she would.  
  
Misaki remembered many things as she struggled to find her way through the maze.  
  
It was, she mused in a decidedly un-Misaki like way, similar to how she truly felt inside. She felt lost, as though every time she thought she might be finding the end, the exit and entrance of all things good and bad, it was merely another twisted corridor of vines.  
  
A sigh escaped her lips. Not unlike popular belief, she was naïve and innocent in more ways than otherwise, but in that insignificant otherwise there laid a deep melancholy so very unlike her normal carefree self, it would have disturbed anyone to know of it.  
  
She loved her Aunt, Shouko, ironically named so very similarly to Misaki's real mother, Shuuko. It was ironic, Misaki thought as she stumbled through another tunnel of leaves in the maze, because through the years after Shuuko had to leave, Shouko instead, became more like a surrogate mother than an aunt.  
  
And yet she was only her aunt, not her Okaasan.  
  
Misaki was only maybe three when Shuuko left. She had wondered from that day on, what she had done to make her mother want to leave, need to leave. Had she, have I, Misaki's heart flinched at the thought, have I been a burden to her? Had she? Most certainly not as anyone else would have told her, if she had asked. But she didn't . She kept it well bottled up inside, afraid that if she let the humanly sad or dissatisfied part of herself show, she was afraid the others might leave too...just like Okaasan.  
  
She didn't want to lose anyone else, especially now that she had so many dear friends. I don't deserve them, Misaki thought sadly, walking now absently through the maze, not really seeing it.  
  
Which was perhaps why she didn't notice the somewhat camouflaged hole in front of her...which was why she fell straight through it.  
  
She was actually so surprised, she didn't even scream. Even when she hit the ground, landing unfortunately on her bad ankle, feeling it buckle painfully underneath her, she was silent.  
  
This was what it was really like for her. It was like she was falling continuously into holes she could not see, holes she would not let anyone else see, lest she burden them with her sadness. She did not want to ever see anyone suffer because of her selfishness, or so she regarded it as.  
  
This was her hole.  
  
Alone she would climb out of it one day, not bothering anyone else, she had once vowed when she was younger. She would win this battle because this was the kind of fighting she knew how to do. It wasn't the same as Hikaru who could most likely, Misaki smiled softly through her physical pain, attempting to move her bad ankle out from under her, wipe the floor with half the guys at Angelic High. No, it wasn't that kind of fighting. It was the kind no one else saw. It was the kind a forgotten soldier, no...not forgotten, but never acknowledged soldier fights. Solitary and determined, she wanted to try her best always.  
  
So that incentive had kept her going all these years, the wish to see people happy, and the wish to maybe become a good enough person so as to one day see her beloved Okaasan again.  
  
"I miss you Okaasan," Misaki whispered to the empty air, tentatively touching her ankle, which she had wrested from underneath her with some great difficulty. She winced.  
  
"I-itai," Misaki gasped, drawing her hand back quickly. The fall had done a lot more damage than she realized. Gratuitously, it didn't really hurt as long as she didn't move it or touch it or think about it...she tried to think of other things...  
  
Other people.  
  
Hikaru, I want to be as strong as you one day, Misaki's face brightened a little at the prospect; she would never be a physical fighter but it was Hikaru's light wisdom that made her strong in Misaki's eyes. That girl saw things other people didn't, calculated them in ways others never would, and all-in-all was a very nice person with a courageous heart. A small self- conscious part of her also added the extra wish to be as pretty as Hikaru but that was a whim more than anything.  
  
Wizard, I want to know you better, she thought, staring up from her hole at the deep blue sky dotted with flaring stars of glowing and natural fluorescence. I want to know what lays behind that interestingly less and less stoic expression of yours, Misaki mused. More and more, she thought, I want to know strong people like him and Hikaru and learn from them.  
  
And Oujirou...Oujirou, Prince of Angelic, what can I say about you, she wondered carelessly. Absently she lifted her right hand to the ever-distant starry sky and traced a route through the stars above with her small index finger. Oujirou is nice, and everyone can't help but like him, no matter who they are; she blushed and nearly laughed at herself. He wasn't even here and she was blushing. It wasn't difficult, she assessed to tell if she was embarrassed but she couldn't help herself. Her transparent feelings seemed to endear people to her in any case though, and that was good because as Misaki was, her feelings would always be so.  
  
That name came rolling up again down the centerline to the front of her heart: Mihara Oujirou.  
  
What are you to me? Misaki pondered. What am I, she added as a depressing after-thought, to you? Surely, I am a little sister at best, Misaki would have laughed if the thought didn't seem to make her heart ache so badly. Why do I care? Certainly I like him but I like all my friends, Misaki reasoned with her subconscious for a while like this, eventually asking her subconscious to please go away.  
  
She just couldn't think anymore at that moment. Misaki shivered; the dress she wore was surely blackened by all the dirt and ruined and on top of that, it wasn't really the warmest attire on a cool evening. Her internal pain she so seldom let surface and the night's events had nearly taken their toll on her, making her very tired, and on the point of flat dead drowsiness. Teetering dangerously near sleep, Misaki's eyes fluttered close for a moment before...  
  
"MISAKI!" Misaki sat bolt up. That was Oujirou.  
  
"Oujirou-san?" she hated her voice for sounding so broken at that moment, obviously not having come completely out of her previous sadness and focused on turning it back into the normally carefree tone she always was careful to have. She tried again, this time lighter, "Oujirou-san?" Ah, that was indeed better.  
  
"Misaki!? Where are you?" he yelled, his voice coming closer.  
  
"Oujirou-san! Stop! Wait!" she called, frantically waving her arms even though she knew well that he couldn't see them. It was more to let her get some of her nerves worked out than anything else.  
  
"Nani?" he sounded puzzled and rightly so, then abruptly, seriously worried, "Misaki-chan, daijoubu? What's wrong?"  
  
"Iie, it's nothing...er, well that is to say...um...watch out for a hole when you come closer hai?" she warned.  
  
"A hole?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"Hai," she grimaced.  
  
"Alright," he answered and his pace was slower though he was still agitated greatly; he was this close to her and now had to slow down for precautions. Hole? Had she fallen? Was she hurt? His mind flashed back to her previous injury on her ankle and he sped up his "cautious" walk to a semi-cautious flat out sprint.  
  
Misaki heard his pace quicken.  
  
"Iie! Oujirou-san, you're very close. Onegai, slow down? I can't see you get hurt!" she called worriedly and he smiled as he came upon the hole she had mentioned. Always worrying about others, he thought as he came to edge and looked down at her. She was even beautiful in this state of affairs, Oujirou marveled.  
  
"Nani? Daijoubu Oujirou-san?" she asked, watching his empty movements of the eyes down on her and then right into her own eyes.  
  
"Hai, demo, I'm going to come down for you alright?" he offered.  
  
"Iie, how will we get out?" she asked.  
  
"Hmm...well, I'll think of something," he shrugged and slid down the steep slope with graceful ease of any Prince in any fairy tale.  
  
"Naaa!" She started in surprise as she came right nose-to-nose with him as he bent down to look at her more closely. Misaki turned away quickly, thanking her friend night for hiding most of her blush, which seemed to exceed beyond the normal shades of pink and which she also hoped dimmed out the pounding in her heart.  
  
"You lied again Misaki-chan; your ankle," he made as if to examine it but when she shook her head fiercely his hand stayed where it was.  
  
"Nani?" he asked, confused; he was only going to see if he could bind it with something...to make it easier to stand on, if at all.  
  
"Ano..." well, he already knows it's messed up, might as well say the truth Misaki resigned and finished, "Gomen, it hurts too much to touch." She felt like a little child.  
  
"Hai," he acknowledged and sat net to her, ignoring the fact that in doing so his tuxedo was becoming nearly as trashed as her dress.  
  
"Arigato, ano..." Misaki began slowly. He gave her an encouraging look that at that moment to her, was more threatening than any of Mizawa's glares or scowls. She was certain her heart was in the pit of her stomach by this point. And then to top it off, he smiled at her. Misaki gave up; she just couldn't ask him right now...maybe one day.  
  
"Iie, it's nothing," she turned away slightly, missing the fraction of hurt that slanted through his eyes for a split second.  
  
"Hai, demo, you're cold," Oujirou observed and thoughtlessly began to take his jacket off to put around her when she stayed his hands.  
  
"Iie! You'll be cold," she frowned. "Besides, your shirt will get dirty and...and...I'm not that cold," she lied.  
  
"Such a nasty habit Misaki really," Oujirou smiled and added, "You're lying yet again!" This was met with abashed silence but as she seemed so distressed that he would take it off, he decided to indulge his whims for a moment, just now, the two of them, and see where it got him and his confused feelings that slowly were beginning to unravel themselves in the waning moonlight while he sat next to this girl.  
  
"Naaa!?" Misaki found herself very close to Oujirou, touching even and then felt his jacket settle over her; it was also over him, though on him it only made it half-way up his chest while on her it covered her up to her chin.  
  
"Well, this way, neither of us are cold," he reasoned so innocently, Misaki could but sit there and admit silently that this was much better. That most of the warmth she felt was emanating from the body quite close beside her was not missed but while she did turn several interesting shades of red to red-violet, all a becoming pinkish under the moonlight, she did not pull away.  
  
She did not pull away.  
  
"Suppose they're lost too?" Misaki worried aloud.  
  
"Iie, Wizard never gets lost; never," and then Oujirou shrugged. "It's just a Wizard thing," he smiled down at her.  
  
"I wonder if they are okay," she pondered.  
  
"I am sure they are; daijoubu Misaki-chan."  
  
"Hai."  
  
Then there lapsed a comfortable silence. Misaki leaned closer to Oujirou subconsciously, while trying to get warmer.  
  
"Ano, Misaki-chan," Oujirou began.  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"I think it might be best to stay away from Mizawa, both of them," he said slowly.  
  
"Why?" she asked, utterly unaware that her present state of being was due to those of the Mizawa name.  
  
"Because they are dangerous," Oujirou stated firmly, hoping that would end all other questions.  
  
"Dangerous?" she asked in confused manner. Damn, thought Oujirou. He didn't want to have to tell her straightforward that Mizawa was not really her friend, that she was a pawn to that other girl. It might crush her.  
  
"Onegai Misaki-chan, just for a while?" he tried the pleading approach; seldom did he need to resort to it but when he did there was no one able to resist his charms.  
  
"Hai, I promise," she smiled up at him and held out her pinky finger. He couldn't remember ever doing this, though the last time he might have had the chance he knew was in preschool. Gladly he took her proffered pinky in link with his and they smiled at each other.  
  
"Arigato," he only responded afterward.  
  
And they waited.  
  
They waited for a long time until finally...  
  
"OUJIROUUUUUUU! MISAKIIIIIIIII!" Two familiar voices called out in apparent distress, even Wizard's normally aloof and monotonous tone was tinged with anxiety.  
  
"We're here!" Misaki replied out to them, Oujirou seconding that.  
  
"Thank Kami," Hikaru breathed a deep sigh of relief.  
  
"Daijoubu?" Wizard asked, eyeing their disheveled states analytically.  
  
"Hai, hai, just get us out of this thrice blasted hole," Oujirou waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and grinned up at Hikaru and Wizard who simply shook their heads at the Prince in relieved amusement. If he could joke like that, they were definitely okay.  
  
"Except, Misaki-chan has the ankle problem again; she hurt it again when she fell."  
  
"Hai," Wizard took in the situation. "If you can, lift her and pass her to me; we can do it if you can get her to me," Wizard suggested. Oujirou paused but did so and soon everyone was once more on the right level of ground, Misaki leaning heavily on Oujirou, much to her slight mortification [and to Oujirou's secret pleasure; that she would lean on him and not Wizard was particularly pleasing though.]  
  
Eventually Oujirou simply picked her up in one smooth motion, holding her in an innocent fashion that just made it easier for them to walk than her leaning on him so much.  
  
She didn't mind.  
  
As they found the exit, courtesy of Wizard's master location skills, they began to walk back to Misaki's. Again, somehow they were all together for this girl.  
  
And somehow, as they got even closer to her, it was less and less surprising.  
  
The only things they couldn't decipher were their own feelings...  
  
Who do I like? Do I like anyone? Feh...Wizard thought, becoming mentally unsettled again as he glanced first at Hikaru and then at Misaki out of his peripheral vision and back at Hikaru.  
  
Hikaru noted that somehow she seemed to have fallen for Wizard...sometime in the short course of their knowing each other. But she would not tell. He seemed, she thought sadly, to be rather interested and defensive when it came to Misaki. No, she would not say anything.  
  
Perhaps she wouldn't need to if Wizard sorted his feelings out in time.  
  
Misaki meanwhile, pondered her unstoppable blushes that came in spades whenever she felt Oujirou's gaze upon her and then the fact that as few times as they were, how Wizard's gaze could often replicate that feeling.  
  
And then there was Oujirou. He at least, knew who he wanted; she was right in his arms at this moment, if only as the victim of circumstances...  
  
He found himself selfishly wishing for some more such victimizing positions for Misaki to be in, so that he might be there to help her out of them. They were his only legitimate excuse to be this close to her...so close he almost sighed but stopped it before anyone could notice.  
  
And until he told her how he felt, it would stay that way.  
  
What should I do? They all thought as they continued silently on their simple trek, home.  
  
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Review onegai? Arigato. Next chapter, more on Misaki's past, maybe someone will figure the hidden part of her out, but who will it be to figure it out, Wizard or Oujirou?  
  
Review *laughs at self for repeating that yet again*!  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	9. Episode Nine: One Fine Day

DISCLAIMER: You know.  
  
Angelic High: Episode Nine: One Fine Day  
  
Wizard lay on the ground beside the lake in the park, the clean fresh grass creating for him, a suitable resting spot. Above, the sky was a perfect blue and the sun and clouds were in great correlation and balance with one another, making it overall, a very fine day...yes, one fire day indeed. His companion of choice as usual, was Oujirou, who sat also on the ground nearby, propped on his elbows and reading a small book of sorts.  
  
The former was about to drift into a noncommittal sleep when his compatriot's voice woke him again.  
  
"Wizard, what do you think of Misaki?"  
  
It was so very blunt, much like his own style of talking, but the subject hitting so close to home, Wizard thought he might see a part of what exactly people found so very confounding about him.  
  
"She's a nice person," Wizard managed to strangle out of himself.  
  
"Hai, and what else?" Oujirou turned to stare directly at Wizard, dead serious.  
  
"What for? Why are you asking me this?" Wizard for the first time in forever was flustered, undeniably and indisputably flustered.  
  
"I like her you know," Oujirou explained simply. That he could be so much more free with his feelings, it almost pained Wizard to realize how much more effort that would have taken himself to say.  
  
"Hai, I guessed something like that," Wizard replied.  
  
"Ano, I didn't want to do anything else, say anything else, until I knew what you felt for her," Oujirou admitted companionably.  
  
"Stupid Mihara, always thinking of others like that, you'll never get anyone if you worry about who else likes who," Wizard joked unconvincingly.  
  
"Perhaps, demo, I need to know," Oujirou stated firmly, shutting his book definitively.  
  
"I..." Wizard stopped. He did like her he supposed but...didn't he also like Hikaru? When he thought of Hikaru, he thought beautiful, strong and perhaps a little bit bold. When he thought of Misaki, he thought strong, cute, determined and though not at all offensive, very willful in her own shy way.  
  
"You don't know do you?" Oujirou sighed in exasperation. It was, he supposed, too much to hope for, that his friend would sort out his own feelings equally as speedily.  
  
"Gomen Oujirou, but when I know, you'll be one of the first to know," Wizard promised.  
  
"Arigato Wizard," the Prince of Angelic High thanked him and then nonchalantly went back to his reading.  
  
This stupefied Wizard somewhat; how could he go from something so serious to merely reading a book? It was incomprehensible to him. Yet he had not figured out his own feelings and perhaps, he reasoned, that is why.  
  
Perhaps it was.  
Not far from the handsome duo, Misaki walked with Hikaru along the park pathways. There were many.  
  
"Ano, Hikaru-chan," Misaki began shyly.  
  
"Hai Misaki-chan?" she smiled down at the younger girl benevolently, the ever-present spark of kind laughter filtering in and out of her eyes.  
  
"Ano, I was wondering, what does it feel like..." Misaki gulped and then steeled herself back to her purpose, "What does it feel like to be in love?"  
  
"Why do you ask?" Hikaru responded almost hesitantly.  
  
"Because, because I'd like to know," Misaki stumbled over her explanation.  
  
"Well," Hikaru paused and placed her hands on her hips thoughtfully and rolled her eyes skyward as if searching for the answer somewhere in the clouds above. "It's a warm feeling, that sometimes might be confusing but makes you feel definitely good, you know?"  
  
Misaki nodded slowly.  
  
"If you're in love, you might blush when they who you love is near or you might be nervous. Most of all though, you just want to be with them," Hikaru finished, a little sadly to Misaki's dismay.  
  
"Ano, Hikaru-chan, does Hikaru-chan love someone?" she asked, knowing the answer somewhat already.  
  
"Hai, demo I think," Hikaru laughed slightly but it wasn't her normal laugh; it was empty, void and lost.  
  
"Hai?" Misaki prompted.  
  
"I think it might be a little too one-sided," Hikaru sighed.  
  
"D-demo, why? Hikaru-chan is wonderful, strong and beautiful and nice...everyone likes Hikaru-chan, ne?" Misaki spoke from her heart, knowing that Hikaru was all those things to her and more, like an older sister she admired.  
  
"He's just that way I think," Hikaru shrugged and Misaki had to ponder for herself what 'that way' was precisely.  
  
"Demo, how can he know if you don't speak? How will you ever know if you don't say anything Hikaru-chan?" Misaki compelled her friend persistently.  
  
"I just don't know Misaki. It's scary to think you might not be loved by a person you know you love for certain," Hikaru explained. Misaki felt a twinge; she knew what that was like. That was how she felt about her Okaasan, the not knowing if she loved her or not, was loved by her at all.  
  
"Hikaru-chan..." she paused.  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"I still think you should tell him," Misaki paused before continuing, deciding to follow her instinct, "Because Wizard-san isn't as unattainable as you might think."  
  
Hikaru could not help but gape. Misaki apparently knew a bit more than she let on...quite a bit more actually.  
  
"How did you know?" Hikaru asked dully.  
  
"I just guessed," Misaki laughed nervously and breathed an inner sigh of relief that she was right.  
  
That means she doesn't like Oujirou-san, Misaki thought happily. Ano...wait a minute. Why do I mind? Wouldn't it be good for Hikaru to like Oujirou- san? He's so nice and so is she...but even as she thought about it, her heart rebelled and came up with a forceful "No!"  
  
No.  
  
I like him.  
  
Misaki was stunned.  
  
Apparently she had fallen for him...somewhere along the way of...somewhere.  
  
I like him, she thought again, suddenly feeling as though a great weight had been lifted from her.  
  
Things were getting clearer.  
  
"Ano, gomen Hikaru, I have to go!" Misaki said excitedly.  
  
"Hai, demo where are you going Misaki-chan?" Hikaru asked curiously, a smile hinting at the corners of her lips.  
  
"To tell someone I love him," Misaki smiled brightly and ran off.  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
The fact that she had no idea where he was did not help, Misaki groaned. Leave it to me to run off without any direction, she thought balefully.  
  
Fortunately or unfortunately though, she did run into someone:  
  
Wizard.  
  
"K-konnichi-wa Wizard-san!" she greeted warmly as she came upon him beside the aforementioned lake. Oujirou had left some time ago unbeknownst to her. Wizard glanced up and nodded.  
  
"Konnichi-wa Misaki," he replied cordially.  
  
"Ano, may I sit?" she asked and he nodded again. They sat that way for an undetermined amount of time, neither speaking aloud though always speaking inside. Finally Wizard, after much debating with himself, spoke.  
  
"Why does Misaki look sad sometimes, as though she is not loved?" he asked and then blanched. Aside from Wizard blanching [making history here people] there was a very awkward silence. He had not meant for it to sound so blunt this time but...that was how he was with everything, intentionally or not, wasn't he?  
  
Misaki didn't seem to mind. She only shrugged and offered one of her light little laughs, not half so carefree as normally they were though.  
  
"Ano, I suppose it is because of my Okaasan," she admitted. Why hide it anymore? She needed someone to listen and Wizard, though social he may not be normally, Wizard was just the kind of listener she needed right now, as she hadn't been able to find Oujirou...  
  
"Your mother?"  
  
"Hai..." she paused but found strength in his reassuring silence of one who was prepared to listen and continued: "When I was very young, Okaasan left; I always wondered, what...what it was I had done to make her leave," she stopped.  
  
"I doubt it was you who made her leave Misaki-chan," he commented truthfully.  
  
"Demo, why else? And yet, I couldn't think of what it was I could have done. Had I just, had I just been a bad person? Had I," Misaki gulped an uncomfortable lump in her throat, "had I been a burden?"  
  
Misaki was ashamed to find that familiar warmth of discomfort welling up behind her eyes, threatening her with traitorous tears.  
  
"Don't cry Misaki-chan," Wizard felt he was almost begging her. He, for all his high words and tough exterior, could not stand to see a girl cry any more than Oujirou. It made them vulnerable and him feel useless, like he could do nothing for them, or for anyone. Misaki sniffed bravely, wiping away the so far unshed tears, pushing them back unhappily.  
  
"I try to be happy for everyone; I don't want them...I don't want you to leave me too," and Misaki's true fears were revealed.  
  
She was afraid of being left behind again.  
  
"Misaki," Wizard moved without really knowing what he was doing but was suddenly sitting in front of Misaki, very close, peering down at her through yet another perspective. And then, to both of their startled minds, he was holding her, gently, comforting her just by letting her fall into him.  
  
"I've changed my mind Misaki; cry. Cry all you need to; you seem to have kept it in unnecessarily for our sakes long enough," Wizard whispered softly, rocking her back and forth slightly, ever so slightly, like an older brother did for a sister who had been lost.  
  
And she had.  
  
She had been very lost, trying to find her way on her own, he now realized as he felt the first of her hot tears seep through his shirt. Unconsciously she gripped his arms, as though searching for support as she quietly sobbed, obviously trying to avoid any more attention than that which she already had.  
  
"G-gomen W-wizard-san," she swallowed hard. Here she was, crying on his shirt, grasping onto him to her mortification. She felt like quite the little child. And yet, when she attempted to move off of him, he simply held her closer.  
  
"There is nothing to apologize for. We all..." Wizard paused. He couldn't ever remember being compelled to speak this much in one sitting ever. But compel him she did in her soft-spoken way. So he did. "We all need to depend on people sometimes, outside of ourselves."  
  
"Even Wizard-san?" Misaki asked shrewdly, even through her still noticeably wet tears. Wizard, after recovering from the subtle attack on his consciousness, smiled...he smiled!  
  
"Even Wizard," he confirmed and Misaki knew that she had a friend in this boy, this Wizard. And Wizard, finally knew what drew him to Misaki and what he felt for her.  
  
Her utter goodness, her staggering compassion, her unbelievable depths of understanding and simultaneous innocence, they attracted him to her.  
  
Her surrogate role of a little sister, an extended family, he had suddenly come to realize, was what connected them, what made him think of her so often.  
  
And in realizing that, he knew what he felt for Hikaru was something more romantic, something much less relative to his current state of affairs, but totally recognizable. Misaki sighed and relaxed in his arms. They were a safeguard for the moment as she shook slightly still with remaining tears.  
  
It felt good to cry.  
  
No, Misaki corrected.  
  
It felt good not to have to cry alone.  
Neither Wizard nor Misaki saw the piercing blue eyes watching them intensely, taking everything in and unlike their normal logical selves, not bothering to seek behind the computed images. Instead they glazed over with a slight stab of pain. Was this how it ended? Oujirou had always dreamed as a child to be the Wizard or Enchanter like in all of his fairytale stories. Instead he had grown into the Prince, supposed winner of the hand of some maiden-fair.  
  
But it seemed, his eyes darkened a bit more, beginning to take on a bluish inky quality, this story would end with the maiden-fair and the Wizard together, the Prince left to his harem of empty fans, devoid of that which made him love that particular maiden-fair.  
  
And that which made her irreplaceable.  
  
And he simply wanted to walk away.  
  
But he couldn't bring himself to do so in time before Misaki softly lifted her head and saw him standing there, his Princely façade dropped to reveal a seemingly shattered young man.  
  
"Oujirou-san?" That was it. Her voice, her face, her whole being, he couldn't help but love her and want her to be his. But seeing her with Wizard as such...confused him. Had his best friend really decided that was how he felt?  
  
"Oujirou," this came from Wizard who lightly shifted Misaki to one side and turned to face the Prince who wondered none too lightly if he would have to fight the Wizard for his maiden-fair, yes, His maiden-fair. He was convinced she could belong with no other. Then to his surprise, Wizard stood and lithely walked up and past him, whispering as he passed:  
  
"I love her too, but at most, she is my little sister. Treat her well Mihara-san," he chuckled. Wizard chuckled! Oujirou, ever-unflappable Prince felt like he might die then and there. His stony best friend, with the "I never even crack a smile unless I'm put up to it against death," expression, chuckled!  
  
"N-nani?" his eyes widened in realization. They were not together. Misaki was not really with Wizard. Wizard was not really with Misaki.  
  
Misaki was not with anyone.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Wizard stumbled upon Hikaru on his way out of the park, heading to find her before he convinced himself he had fooled his higher self into a trick and that his feelings now were mere imaginative figments. Beautiful as always, Hikaru stood there, looking at him warily, as though she wasn't certain whether to run or to stay.  
  
She began to turn away.  
  
He reflexively reached out a hand and grabber her wrist gently.  
  
"Suppose I told you," he began slowly, and then bore into himself the courage to go on, "Suppose I told you, Hikaru, that I love you?"  
  
"I'd say," Hikaru paused; she had intended and had prepared something of a scathing retort for anything undesirable he might say. As it was, he got everything right.  
  
"You'd say," he prompted, blue eyes worried terribly like tide line storms.  
  
"This," Hikaru said and walked closer to him, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a soft and brief, yet fulfilling kiss of sincere promises yet unspoken.  
  
Wizard couldn't help but find satisfaction in that answer.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
And meanwhile:  
  
Misaki only sat there, staring at him, still trying to identify with what Hikaru had told her earlier about love. Well, it was true that when she looked at Oujirou, she blushed, as she was doing now, and her heart sped up, as it was also doing now.  
  
I guess I'm in love, Misaki thought bluntly.  
  
"Misaki, I..." Oujirou began and was cut off by a spontaneous Misaki jumping up from her spot on the ground and hugging him fiercely.  
  
"I like you...I like you a great deal actually, and I think perhaps...I even love you," Oujirou breathed a sigh. He'd said it. Now all that was left was to know how Misaki felt.  
  
If he hadn't been listening so carefully, so hopefully for it, he would have missed it entirely. As it was, Oujirou was blessed with very sharp hearing:  
  
"Me too."  
  
It had been no more than a whisper, carried swiftly away by a passing breeze.  
  
But Mihara Oujirou caught it on its way out and smiled, his previously borderline heart now back in the safe zone of what he suspected forever must feel like.  
  
For Suzuhara only declared her love for anyone once in life and that once was now as far as finding her Prince in life.  
  
Misaki sighed.  
  
Oujirou's heart warmed.  
  
They fell deeper into each other's arms.  
  
The sun still shone brightly.  
Yes, indeed, it was one fine day.  
  
----------------------------------------------------  
  
REVIEW ONEGAI! Gomen for this chapter, but it was on a time schedule what with my time limited on the PC because it is shared in my family so, gomen again Minna.  
  
Arigato gozaimasu to all my faithful reviewers! Once more, they mean the world to me, so thank you for taking a few seconds to drop my story a review when you did/ do.  
  
-Kaji 


	10. Episode Ten: Competition

Angelic High: Episode Ten: Competition  
  
It had been nearly a month since the two couples had formed. Both were constantly teased by a grinning Tamayo who was followed by an apologetic Kotaro, a third happy couple pre-existent to their own. And still people were having a difficult time coping with the fact that it was "for real." Some people even had such a difficult time dealing with it that they fabricated stories and aimed to shoot down those who had so quickly risen to unmistakable popularity.  
  
Misaki in particular was the target of many envious glares from the girls since she was only a first year and had somehow snagged the Prince of Angelic.  
  
Hikaru was a fighter, undisputed and as thus, no one dared to really question her.  
  
But as said before, Misaki was kind, unassuming Misaki, innocent and totally unaware of the jealousy circulating widely through the school, much directed at her in specific.  
Later they would all suppose that that was what started the whole thing.  
As the lunch hour rolled around, it found Suzuhara Misaki looking around for a certain someone, sometimes standing on her toes to look over other people's heads, other times bending over backwards in order to avoid being run over by some renegade student on a sugar high. There seemed to be more and more of those lately. Either way though, she was searching for only one person. Unfortunately, she didn't think to look up and that was precisely where He was located.  
  
Up?  
  
Yeah, up.  
  
Mihara Oujirou sat in an almost uncanny state of comfort in the sloped arm of the courtyard's resident Sakura tree, watching his all too kawaii girlfriend from above. He fancied himself to be at that moment, the luckiest man on campus, no disputes taken. For he had Suzuhara Misaki and that was all one needed to be happy in his opinion; she was the only one he needed.  
  
Having come to terms with that great fact some time before she did, it gave him what was-even to him- a ridiculous amount of self-satisfaction to know the feeling was utterly mutual. Of course, Misaki had taken her time in reiterating her love for him, but since they were only in high school and it was indubitably unusual for one to find one's true love at such a considerably young age, he understood.  
  
Oujirou noted with interest the rather large bento Misaki had that day and his smile warmed as he watched her, still undoubtedly searching for his personage [and in all the wrong places.] She must have made enough for all of us, he mused gratuitously; 'all' meant not only them but Hikaru and Wizard as well.  
  
The foursome ate lunch together more often than not and it was still even less out of the ordinary to have Tamayo body slam Kotaro into joining them as well. So really, Oujirou supposed, 'all' meant the six of them, also coincidentally, the most envied and simultaneously adored couples at Angelic High.  
  
The tell-tale flashes of blue and red alerted him to the approach of Hikaru and Wizard as the tell-tale greeting of a preceding Kotaro flopping airlessly in front of them alerted him to Tamayo's entrance as well. Here Misaki had the good-nature to giggle a bit but then amiably help Kotaro struggle to his feet. The boy certainly had built up an admirable endurance level over the years.  
  
Oujirou supposed one would have to, in order to survive that is. Hikaru laughed lightly and Tamayo threw Kotaro a sly look before hooking his neck in her right arm in a semi-fake chokehold, warning Kotaro [chan] not to get to close to 'Misakichi.' She was joking of course but her strangleholds were never exactly controlled, even the fake ones.  
  
As such, Kobayashi Kotaro found himself in an undignified slump on the ground, at a loss once more for air.  
  
Wizard sighed; this was how it always was with those two, but it was certainly amusing, he admitted to himself and then noticed Misaki's wandering eyes. Oujirou watched still, from his comfortable position in the aforementioned tree.  
  
"Daijoubu Misaki-chan?" he asked.  
  
"Hai, demo, I can't seem to spot Oujirou-san," she frowned slightly. Wizard seemed to contemplate the situation for a moment before a light went of in his head. Ah yes, almost definitely he would be there, Wizard concluded and began walking towards the Sakura tree, Misaki, Hikaru, and Tamayo in tow [who quickly ran back to drag Kotaro with them, who as it was, was still quite prostate on the school ground.] As they reached the tree, Misaki cocked her head in question to Wizard who merely smirked ever so slightly and triumphantly, pointed his index finger: up.  
  
And of course, there sat Mihara Oujirou, smiling benignly down at all of them, looking as happy as ever, and complacent too, Misaki was not too oblivious to notice. It was as if before she could worry about him being up so high and vocalize it, he was simply telling her everything was okay and he would not do anything he knew to be dangerous. So it was okay and Misaki in return, simply smiled in an equally benign fashion, right back up at him.  
  
"Misaki-chan," he was still smiling.  
  
"Oujirou-san," her smile began to turn into a frown again. And he knew she was reaching the limits of her capacity for worrying; so, he effortlessly jumped down, though to anyone it seemed as though he glided down, much like an angel would, but without wings. He of course, was no angel. He was a prince.  
  
So began the lunch period.  
Somewhere not far from the six happy people, all reclining in various positions on the ground eating from Misaki's proportionate bento, other students talked wildly about them.  
  
"Can you believe it?"  
  
"No not really."  
  
"I mean, Kotaro and Tamayo I understand but...the other two?"  
  
"Especially OUR prince with that meek little first year!"  
  
"He was never yours at all."  
  
"Well, he might have been."  
  
"Oh you should all just give it up. Can't you see how happy they are?"  
  
"What do you know?"  
  
"I still think it's weird."  
  
"We all do."  
  
"I wonder what her secret is."  
  
"Magic?"  
  
"Nah, no such thing!"  
  
"Well in any case, I don't think this should be allowed. We've all been here longer than she has. She has no right to Mihara Oujirou."  
  
"He did choose her you know."  
  
"I know and Mizawa couldn't even distract him from it, but I'm not Mizawa."  
  
"Of course not."  
  
"What do you think we should do to little miss popular first year?"  
  
"Whaddya mean 'we'?"  
  
"Never mind that. I have a plan already."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Everyone knows she's supposedly nice and sweet, la dee da dee da, et cetera, et cetera..."  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
"I have also heard she stood up to the male Mizawa of our school, stared him down."  
  
"That little meek thing? Suzuhara?"  
  
"Hai and trust me I do have a point. Just indulge me a bit longer."  
  
"Certainly."  
  
"Well, obviously she must have a lot of gall to do that above all else so I was thinking of laying a trap, one that would most likely embarrass her for her entire stay here at Angelic."  
  
"Ooh! Like what?"  
  
"Just shut up and listen closely. First, every well-thought out trap requires proper bait and in this case, the bait we have, won't even know its purpose until it's too late..."  
  
This conversation went on until the group of people dispersed, leaving only the two main conspirators to their own thinking. One was a slender and beautiful girl with shoulder-length black hair and vivid hazel eyes that flashed with double motives. The other was like her opposite, a very light blond haired boy with seemingly open eyes, honest. The two left each other alone, each puzzling out their own conflicts and concepts for the said trap laid.  
----------------------  
  
School had just been dismissed; Misaki fumbled for her things in her locker, which strangely seemed to be caving in under the rather heavy stock it held. She laughed nervously to herself. This would probably cause some kind of irreversible dent in the wall behind it but she couldn't help that really.  
  
It wasn't her fault her teachers loaded her up with work like it was bloody D. day.  
  
Misaki being Misaki though, she didn't mind. In fact, the only thing she minded at that moment was that she might not be home in time to finish dinner for Aunt Shouko. It wasn't so much that Shouko ordered her to do so, but that she enjoyed doing it for her. As such, Misaki hastened her actions a mite. On her way out though, she was stopped by a congregation of beautiful and snooty girls, upperclassmen [or at least to her they were.] Misaki listened:  
  
"So you heard of the District wide competition? Biggest thing to hit everywhere plus Tokyo; you entering?"  
  
"What competition?"  
  
"You mean you don't know?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, it's this competition in which people search for talent basically. You can do anything, but only one act is chosen to actually get a contract, you understand now?"  
  
"Kinda."  
  
"Right."  
  
Misaki watched as the girls left the wall they had been ogling, revealing a very large poster with the words: TALENT SEARCH plastered placidly across the top. She smiled absently. It was a nice thought, but she could never do it...no, she'd probably blush her way off of stage before she could actually do anything. She nearly laughed at the thought.  
  
"Ano, Misaki-chan," a hand tapped her shoulder. Misaki jumped in surprise.  
  
"H-hai!?" she came face to face with a benignly smiling Oujirou, for all the world looking a little too comfortable at their close quarters, his nose nearly touching hers due to proximity. Proving her earlier hypothesis more than correct, Misaki proceeded to blush profusely, then smile feebly and finally, calm down, all in the space of a minute or less.  
  
"Hi there. I see you're looking at the poster, ne?" he smiled knowingly and Misaki couldn't help but feel he could see right through her and her silly little school-girl daydreams that it seemed every "silly little school- girl" had near this time of the competition.  
  
"Iie...well, hai, a little, I wa just curious," she replied slowly.  
  
"Well, Wizard and I and Hikaru were thinking we could all enter together," he continued on smiling, completely unaffected by the weight of his words. Misaki too was unaffected for a moment, letting her mind vaguely breeze over the term 'we' for a few moments that defined the cliché "ignorance is bliss."  
  
Then she blanched.  
  
"N-nani!?"  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Across the hallway, the two main high school conspirators, whose goal it was to bring Misaki down a peg, and bring the popular focus back to them, they listened discreetly. Their plan was falling into place; dropping a few rumors here and there certainly did get the ball rolling faster than they thought. The girl while continuously glaring at Misaki, could not help but notice the rather different look on her counterpart's face; he wore the look of someone who wanted to win the prize rather than to destroy it. She frowned. Suzuhara Misaki would be dethroned if she had anything to do with it and her partner in arms was not going to fall for the little first year...of course...that might make things a little more interesting.  
  
And so the girl began to plot another thing in her head, scheming loopholes and methods to get what she wanted, and use everything and everyone to her advantage. The difference between her and the Mizawas was that she was Taori Higashi, mistress of deceit and head of the gossip line at school, one of the most beautiful and dangerous schoolgirls ever to grace Angelic's campus. And she knew it.  
  
Even if no one else did.  
  
That was her main trick, her trump card.  
  
No one ever suspected her except the people she got to work with her, like the blonde boy beside her, Okosu Mirashi.  
  
And even he was a pawn.  
  
Even if he didn't know it.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
By the end of the day, Misaki had been convinced to enter the talent search competition with her friends.  
  
She had no idea how they had done it.  
  
Obviously they would have had to get her to say "Hai" and it mortified her to think she had been so very quickly coaxed into what she did not doubt would turn into some unidentifiable form of relative chaos.  
  
Then again, Misaki only had a very vague grasp on things.  
  
She didn't even know what they were doing for the competition yet.  
  
All she knew was that she was in it and there was no escape.  
  
She sighed and glanced briefly over at Oujirou for a split second, not wanting anyone to see her glance. At least he would be with her.  
  
Oujirou's face changed marginally, the corners of his perfect mouth turning up just a bit at the edges to make him seem smug, if only slightly. And he was. He had seen Misaki glance at him in that very split second. And that gave him perhaps more satisfaction than it should have.  
  
But he supposed that was how love worked.  
  
Even if Misaki herself didn't realize he was in love with her yet.  
  
Even if it might take her years to do more than glance and blush.  
  
Love worked that way.  
  
And as for the competition, as Oujirou looked over at Hikaru and Wizard, who were for their part, more open about their relationship usually, though tasteful, he knew that the four of them had every chance in the world to win.  
  
They all had a chemistry that was somewhat supernatural, not as a relationship of master and subject, but as eye-to-eye friends, each with their own perspectives, exhibiting them to form a perfected conglomeration of well-thought out being.  
  
Oujirou smiled again and took his time glancing at Misaki, noting her carefree expression.  
  
One day he would have to ask her how she always looked so carefree and if she ever felt sad or alone.  
  
And on that day he would make her promise to always tell him when she felt that way.  
  
So that he may be her Prince, like in the fairy-tale they began weaving the day they met, and rescue her as he might, even if it was only be assisting her in solving her own troubles.  
  
For the moment though, the competition was at hand, and unbeknownst to Misaki, Mihara Oujirou also had no idea what they would be doing.  
  
Wizard and Hikaru were orchestrating all this.  
  
Well...it would definitely be interesting.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
End chapter ten. Gomen it took so long, Review please. I so appreciate it, it DOES keep the chapters coming, even if it takes me a while. ^_~  
  
Sorry again, but honestly, those REVIEWS keep me writing.  
  
My other stories will be updated as soon as I can do so. Don't worry, regardless of whether it is Card Captor Sakura, Angelic Layer or Sailor Moon, ALL of my fics will be updated as soon as I get the chance. I VOW to finish any fics I have up on ff.net as of now. I just have to find time.  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	11. Episode Eleven: Plotting and Planning

Angelic High: Chapter Eleven  
Suzuhara Misaki was at a loss.  
  
They wanted her to do what?  
  
"Sing Misaki-chan," Hikaru smiled at her, oblivious for the moment about her friend's intense discomfort at the mere thought of such a thing.  
Words like: You're kidding, you're joking, there's no way you're being serious, flashed like lightning through Misaki's frazzled senses but none of them came out.  
  
Instead...  
  
"N-nani?" It seemed she was saying that an awful lot lately. Wizard shook his head as Hikaru continued to kindly but forcefully persuade a clearly reluctant Misaki, feeling a great deal of sympathy and pity for his surrogate little sister. Somehow Hikaru had suckered them all into this...thing. Wizard was just happy it wasn't him who had to sing.  
  
"You know you can do it Misaki-chan," Hikaru prodded cheerfully.  
  
"Iie..." Misaki shook her head fast. No way. There was no way in the name of all her love of...of...ice cream that she would do it. No way...now way...  
  
"Please?" Hikaru had this all planned out, brining out her secret weapon: puppy eyes. Her lovely crimson eyes watered ever so slightly and she got down slowly on her knees, hands clasped in front of her like she was at the bloody synagogue or something. Misaki sputtered.  
  
"H-Hikaru-chan, I can't! I m-m-mean..." Misaki's voice faltered.  
  
There was an imminent pause.  
  
And then:  
"What do you want me to sing?" Misaki could've whacked herself upside the head. Wasn't that exactly what she'd told herself so obstinately only seconds ago she would not under any circumstances, do?  
It was.  
Hikaru's eyes dried immediately and gave a sparkling smile that Misaki had a sudden faint idea had been hiding skillfully underneath the girl's precious frown the whole time. Wizard's blue eyes danced with amusement he'd never, ever vocalize as he watched the antics of Hikaru and the reactions of Misaki which, at length, varied between absurdly melodramatic to admirably discreet, all in matters of seconds.  
  
He supposed that was apart of the chemistry Misaki had with most people who met her. She made them act open, completely, not only because they were unthreatened by her kind demeanor and disposition but because they knew she was more than tolerant.  
  
Suzuhara Misaki accepted them.  
  
In every way she accepted them.  
  
And she was very agreeable usually. That was apart of her personality, flawed as it was in Wizard's opinion. It was that exact kind of personality he did not have and was, for the moment, thankful. Otherwise he might be the one singing. He suppressed a shudder at the very thought.  
  
"...and then the lights will go up, the curtain will rise and we'll all be up there, on stage right there with you!" Hikaru finished giving Misaki the super-duper condensed five-minute run-down on a "vague" idea of what they'd be doing, her words of course. Hikaru wanted to leave all their options open.  
  
"I don't know..."Misaki floundered for an escape route.  
  
"Don't worry Misaki-chan. Everything will be alright," a familiar voice sounded from behind her and Misaki turned around to find herself nose to nose with a certain Prince of Angelic. The only Prince of Angelic for that matter.  
  
"O-Oujirou!" she squeaked. This day was just full of mini-surprises and Misaki had a feeling she might end up in a high sea of confusion by the end of it all...and it wasn't even over yet.  
  
"Daijoubu Misaki?" he questioned amicably, his smile fully reaching his wonderful blue eyes, the eyes so many girls fell into and never were able to resurface from again. The same eyes that were only for Suzuhara Misaki, much to those same girls' discouragement. It was clear by now that Mihara Oujirou and her were something of an item. Something. Misaki was not quite as comfortable, nor sure of herself though and that left room for interpretation because as far as anyone could see on the outside, it was Oujirou doing all the advancing, minimal as it might seem and gradual as it might seem.  
  
Personally, he didn't mind. If slow was the way he could reach Misaki, slow was perfect for Oujirou. As long as she was somewhere near him, as long as he could reach out for her, he was content just with that for the moment.  
  
"I'm fine Oujirou, arigato," Misaki replied warmly, her expression embodying the word 'kind' in every possible manifestation.  
  
"Hai and she's fine with singing for the Talent Search too!" Hikaru quite veritably crowed with triumph and Oujirou chuckled. The red-haired beauty had been plotting for a while now on how to get Misaki into it. Apparently, according to her words, she had succeeded. Said red-haired beauty paused and added with a grin, "And she's going to dance too!"  
  
Misaki blanched. Excuse me, she thought, her mind choppy at best.  
  
Hikaru laughed lightly at the stricken look on Misaki's face when she told the younger girl that she would also have to dance. That was definitely the kicker. But Misaki would in the end, yield and that was something Hikaru would hug her and tease her and love her about in time to come. She would do anything for her friends, Hikaru realized; that was just the kind of person Misaki was.  
-----------------------------------------  
Higashi stood to one side, watching the foursome with discreet interest. Okosu stood to her left, looking imminently bored out of his mind. And he was. Except for one thing.  
  
Or rather, one someone.  
  
Suzuhara Misaki. Her name even smiled. Even if Higashi couldn't see what had people entranced around the little first year, Okosu could. The first year had an aura of safety and compassion about her that was undeniably tempting and desirable in a person. People by nature sought kindness and Misaki was the walking, talking personification if it. So they flocked.  
  
He had other things in mind though. Misaki, for all her first year stature, was not homely in the least. In fact, she was rather infectiously adorable, bright blue eyes, chestnut hair, fair skin and a petite frame that suited well the school uniform. In contrast, Okosu noted that unlike Higashi who though tempestuously mature and developed could not hold the same attention Misaki could, Misaki did not even try to get the attention she did. And that was perhaps just one of the many things that intrigued Mirashi Okosu about her.  
  
The way things were planned between him and Higashi right now, well, it seemed he'd be getting what he was after eventually and so, even though Okosu did not wholeheartedly agree with the grand schemer's plans, he decided to be compliant for now.  
Higashi motioned him over with her hand. He neared her, leaning closer to her so she could whisper.  
  
"So they're in. It'll be easy enough to show them up. Look at them. Honestly, the Prince must be under the same spell the school Wizard is under. They're acting so...so..." Higashi struggled with her words in her aggravation. Okosu shrugged nonchalantly.  
  
"Normal?" he suggested and Higashi nodded furtively.  
  
"They're still immaculate in appearance and their behavior is still amazing but they act with a certain different manner that I suspect is all her fault," Higashi spat, throwing a terse but pointed glare in Misaki's direction. Higashi referred to the change from the perfect Wizard and Prince's conservatively cool and suave behavior to those of school Casanovas, excepting that they were only Casanovas with their respective objects of affection.  
  
"What does it matter? You only want to throw Ms. First Year down the ladder a few rungs. Don't get your skirts in a twist," Okosu drawled and ran his smooth fingers absently through his blond hair.  
  
"Watch your mouth Mirashi or you'll get some nasty surprises," Higashi glowered. Obviously she was not in the mood to be ticked off...not any more than she already was anyway.  
  
"Fine, fine. So when do I swoop in?" he asked, his interest obviously placed in this matter more than anything.  
  
"Well, our original plan was to wait until after the Talent Search, but with all the attention the Prince is giving her, I'd not be surprised if they were together by tomorrow. So you act soon, even now if you want. Flirt with her, toy with her, do whatever you want. Just wreck havoc until the show," Higashi's orders were concise and clear.  
  
"Goody," was Okosu's enthusiastic reply as he eyed the retreating form of Suzuhara Misaki and her three friends. His first obstacle would be the Prince...but only if the Prince was around to be one, Okosu reasoned and his own plans began to formulate themselves in his head, wheels turning.  
Higashi for her part, smirked. She had noted earlier that her counterpart in arms had a thing for the perky first year. And knowing he was too stubborn to be convinced not to like her at all, she used his interest to her advantage, applying it and working it into her schemes and plots, all carefully thought out and laid out. Idly she twirled a section of her dark hair around her right forefinger. When finally Okosu got Suzuhara's attention it would be Higashi's turn at a chance with the Prince. It would be or she'd presently eat her right shoe.  
  
Mihara Oujirou, you're mine, Higashi smiled a secretive smile to herself.  
---------------------------  
"How about this?" Hikaru threw another coordinated outfit over the dressing room door. She had, after some protesting from the opposite party, herded Misaki off on an impromptu shopping spree. If they were going to be in a talent search, they sure as hell were going to dress for the part.  
  
Or so Hikaru said.  
  
Misaki eyed the latest clothing arrival warily. Well...at least it wasn't polka dots like the last mistake Hikaru had thrown at her. No, it was a beautiful crimson silk coat that reached her ankles, long and attractively tailored to the body. The buttons only went down to the waist, which is, Misaki assumed, why Hikaru threw a pair of black leggings and leotard over next. Then a pair of black ankle boots were shoved underneath the door and Misaki heard an impatient sigh.  
  
Hurrying, she donned the leotard, then the leggings over it and then buttoned the coat on, liking to her surprise, how the coat flared out slightly when she moved. It split out in an upside down V-shape where the buttons ended [at the waist] revealing all of her lower half, clad luckily in those same black leggings and black boots.  
  
"Misaki?" Hikaru's voice rang questionably.  
  
"Hai, hai, I'm coming," Misaki replied quickly and opened the door hastily. She poked her head out.  
  
"Come on Misaki, I can't tell anything just by looking at your head," Hikaru coaxed her out gently and then a very, very pleased grin spread across her face. "I am a genius," she proclaimed proudly and grabbed Misaki's wrist softly, tugging the flustered girl over to the triple full length mirrors at the end of the dressing area hall. Misaki was further shocked to find she agreed with this combination and that Hikaru was in fact, a genius.  
  
The tailored fit was perfect on her slender frame, accentuating her lean and petite figure. The black leggings contrasted perfectly with the vivid crimson of the coat and the simultaneously flamboyant and tasteful combo brought out Misaki's blue eyes inspiringly.  
  
"You're gonna blow them away," Hikaru nudged a blushing Misaki gently with her elbow, playful as always but encouraging.  
  
Misaki stared almost in disbelief at the figure in the mirror, the attractive figure that was undeniably her in that reflective surface.  
  
She laughed not as nervously as before.  
Blow them all away?  
It seemed her reflection was winking at her.  
  
Misaki blinked and shrugged, a satisfied smile gracing her lips.  
Maybe she would.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
OKAY, CHAPTER ELEVEN IS UP! WOOHOO! Review onegai?  
  
Here's a glossary of minimal terms I might have used previously for all you who would like one [Japanese to English]  
  
Onegai= Please  
  
Arigato= Thank you  
  
Kirei=Beautiful  
  
Daijoubu?= How are you/ Are you alright...et cetera  
  
Iie=No  
  
Hai=Yes  
  
Demo=But...  
  
Gomen/ gomen nasai= Sorry/ I'm sorry  
  
Itai=Ouch/ Ow  
  
Ja/ Ja ne= Bye/ See you  
  
Thankies again and please,  
  
Review? ~_~ Yeah my stupid ego kicking in again. Gomen.  
  
Sorry that was a shorter chapter but hope you liked it anyway. ^_^  
  
Ja!  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	12. Not Quite an Episode: An InBetweener

* * *

This is for all essential purposes and definitions, an "In-betweener" (something to hold you over that didn't quite fit into the upcoming chapter, yes the UPCOMING chapter. Whoo UPDATE! Muahahaha. Bonsai!)

* * *

**Between episodes 11 and 12, we find: **

**In which we return to the story briefly before we return to it, well, longly**

**

* * *

**

"English!" red eyes blazed toward ice blue ones.

"Japanese," monotone, his argument would have been monosyllabic if he could have managed it without being crude.

"English!" the redhead shot back, bringing her hands down on the edge of the table and leaning across it, bringing her face very, very close to the school wizard's. She figured this would get him to cave, if not jump back and try to quickly regain his renowned composure. Instead he leaned forward.

"Japanese," it was a whisper against her ear said like something else and instead it was Hikaru fighting for her own well-earned dignity through several shades of blushing scarlet. Throwing on a scowl quickly and hopping back, perching on the edge of the table, she waved her finger disapprovingly in Wizard's face, his eyes dancing at her in cool amusement.

"Listen mister, it's English or English, got that?" They had been having this debate/argument/friendly dispute for about an hour now and she was going to win by hook or by crook.

"I'll sit here all night. It's going to be Japanese." She wanted to sock the smug and lax look on his face off, but restrained herself.

"Misaki knows English fine and she'll surprise the audience. They're going to expect a J-pop tune, Wizard," she paused and her eyes flashed in challenge as she added, "Who knew you'd choose such a predictable path?" Wizard, never one to sit for such things...stood. He then made his way to the side of the table, which he leaned casually against, gazing calculatedly at Hikaru out of his peripheral vision, and then did something rather un-Wizard like.

"A wizard is anything but predictable," he replied calmly, still not looking directly at her, his voice hinted at inner laughter and Hikaru turned to refute his statement. Her eyes widened as smoothly and very, very quickly, his fingers tipped her chin up delicately and he brought his lips down on hers. Sure they had kind of had an image going, sure they had kind of done playful flirting. But apart from that kiss that day in the park and a few genial, light kisses, they had never shared any engagement like this kind. This kiss was not quite either the image or the playfulness; there was more to it, more behind it, and it was longer. Noticeably so.

He released her, eyes warm with an unusual glint of something unabashedly normal and teenage. There was a pause and then:

"Misaki will be singing in English, my Wizard," and she gracefully wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing a willing Wizard back for more of the unpredictable. _Well, we are a couple, _she reasoned to herself lightly. _It's about time he made a move. My turn now,_ she smiled into their next kiss and greatly suspected the charming wizard of smiling back as it deepened into further exploration.

* * *

Okosu sighed, his exhale sending his jagged whitish bangs floating up only to land back against his face, an uneven curtain over his amber eyes. If not as well known as Mizawa—either of them actually—or the prince, or the wizard and their beaus, he was if anything, attractive and usually good-natured. He did not look for trouble, but somehow, in the form of one, Taori Higashi, it had found him just the same. 

_I don't want to hurt the first year, interest or not, maybe I shall just befriend her and see where it goes_, he mused to himself, back against the windowpane that overlooked one of the school's courtyards. The sun streamed through, giving the boy a glow not his own entirely, and set off his calm demeanor with a touch of warmth. Said first-year happened to scurry out of her previous class as the bell rang, last as it turned out because she had needed to ask a question no doubt. _Now or never_, he decided and approached her at a relaxed pace, noting absently how cute she was with her pile of books stacked to her chin, marvelously trying to carry them all herself.

"May I?" he offered simply and she began thanking him profusely as he took more than half of the stack, but he shushed her. Misaki blinked her confusion as they walked to her locker. She had really not been shushed much. Most people just let her babble on until she could get a hold of herself. Her confusion melted away beneath a smile as Okosu said, without looking at her, "I know you would do it yourself miraculously but I just want to do something nice, so let me do it alright?" He certainly wasn't like anyone else she had met before. He treated her...normally.

"Arigato," Misaki restated as she took book by book from him and placed them into her locker systematically. Okosu peered in.

"Organized are you?" he seemed to state it more than query, but she answered anyway.

"I try," she said and he nodded.

"I can see that." He watched her secure the lock through the metal openings and ran his fingers through his short hair carelessly. _What now? Just hello-goodbye-and thank-you?_ She turned to him jus then, brilliance in her blue eyes that had less to do with books and everything to do with a soulful way that Misaki seemed to practice.

"No really, I don't even know you and you helped me. I'm Suzuhara Misaki," she bowed slightly. Okosu was about to say "I know" but instead nodded and returned her polite introduction.

"I'm Okosu," he said and when she tilted her head to one side curiously he chuckled a chuckle of a timbre that matched the sun outside, warm and not in the least unkind. "Just Okosu," he affirmed for her and Misaki took this as well as she could.

"A-ano...I just call you Okosu?"

"I wouldn't begrudge you if you added a –san," he admitted and Misaki blushed lightly before nodding, seemingly assuaged by this allowance.

"Alright, arigato Okosu-san!" The bento under her arm slid a little and this caused her to readjust to accommodate it and then to have a sudden recollection. Her face fell.

"What's the matter Suzuhara?" he asked, leaning against the lockers next to her casually. She pointed to the bento.

"I'm late. I have lunch for everyone. I'm sorry Okosu-san, but I'll see you later...maybe I can treat you to something to thank you?" she called as she took off at an admirable sprinting speed towards the customary Sakura tree. Okosu watched the door swing back and forth behind her as she continued down the corridor and he put his hands in his pockets.

"Sure thing, Suzuhara. I'll hold you to that," he wasn't certain she had heard him, but it did not worry him. Walking in no great hurry to the window, looking back down into the courtyard where by chance or otherwise, the Sakura tree was, he let his eyes drift down as a small blur of brown hair and bento box hurled itself to the edge of the three already present. One with red hair, one with bluish, and the other black. Hikaru, Wizard and Oujirou.

"How goes it, partner?" an unnecessarily seductive whisper came at Okosu's ear and he didn't move an inch, nor did he show any signs of noticing said person next to him.

"Seamlessly, Higashi," he assured and when he did not turn, the slightly put-out girl flounced off to carry out some of her own advances. Okosu watched as the prince took the small brunette into his arms, noting how shield-like those arms acted and if the watcher's expression as a whisper of a smirk, no one would notice unless he or she was looking for it.

You don't know her at all, was Okosu's contemplative thought as he turned from the lunch scene to go get his own, possibilities now streaming rampantly through his head.

----------------------------------------------

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SO, IT'S BEEN A WHILE. APOLOGIES. 

Er, if anyone's still reading this or even interested, do review. I'll do better now that I've a computer again. I already updated Ordinary World, so Extended Visit for You is probably next, and if I can bring myself to do it, Rose Prince and The Dream is Here...

Reviews help, now that I can write again. They're motivation to not be a lazy jerk...like I usually am. Sigh. Again, apologies. YAY NEW COMPUTER.

YAY WRITING.

Um...ano...anyone still reading this? I understand if you don't read it anymore/ don't like it/ don't want me to continue...haha...it's been too long...ah well...

Let me know in one word or more if you got a moment.

-THE SINCERELY ABASHED AND ASHAMED KAJIIIIIIIIIIII


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